One Year Early
by DryBonesKing
Summary: Serena watched the Lily of the Valley Conference on television and saw her childhood friend and crush, Ash Ketchum, for the first time in years. Her reaction to seeing him results in a new adventure for Ash and Pikachu, as they visit the Kalos region to take on the Kalos League Conference and meet with Serena one year early. Amourshipping
1. Prologue: Coming into Contact

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Pokémon. They don't belong to me and never will belong to me. Sadface. :(**

* * *

"Morning Serena! Sleep well?"

Serena, a girl with blue eyes, honey-like brown hair, and a pink hat over her hair, walked into the kitchen of her small house in Vaniville Town. She responded to her mother's greeting with a yawn as she slowly walked over to the dining table. Serena took a seat next to her mother and looked down to the pancakes that she had made for breakfast.

"Morning." Serena properly greeted her mother with a smile. She then yawned again before continuing to speak. "How long was I asleep for? I think I overslept."

"Hmm… about nine hours? Ten hours?" Her mother shrugged, unsure of the answer.

"Really?" The girl's eyes widened at her mother's answer. "You let me sleep in that long?"

Usually, Serena would get only seven hours of sleep. If she didn't get out of bed early enough in the day, her mother would send her Fletchling to wake her up. The mother and daughter usually spent their mornings helping Serena practice with her 'Rhyhorn Racing'. The hours spent practicing were difficult and frustrating to Serena, who wasn't particularly sure if she would even pursue racing, but it was part of her routine. To hear that her mother let her sleep in so long and miss time practicing surprised the girl.

"Yeah. I felt like you deserved a break. We've been working hard these past few days, so I felt you deserved at least one day to sleep in." Her mother told her with a laugh. She then gave her daughter a curious look. "You don't have plans today, do you?"

"Plans? No." The honey-like haired girl shook her head with a sigh.

Unless she was training with her mother, she never really had plans with other people. If she were being completely honest, she didn't really have many friends in Vaniville Town, or in Kalos in general. The only friends she truly had were from years ago when she lived in Kanto.

'_Ash…'_ She thought to herself sadly. _'… I wonder how you are doing these days. Certainly things are more exciting for you than they are for me.'_

"Serena? Did you hear me?" Her mother questioned her daughter.

Immediately, the girl shook her head, pushing her thoughts of 'Ash' to the side.

"S-Sorry about that Mom. I was just remembering something." Serena said with a nervous laugh. "What did you ask me again?"

"I asked if you'd like to come with me to a friend's house. You know our new neighbors?" Her mother questioned again.

'_New neighbors…'_ Serena repeated the phrase in her head for a moment before realization dawned on her. "Oh! You mean that boy and his Mom who just moved in about a month ago."

"Yeah, that's who I'm talking about: Calem and his mother, Hope." Her mother nodded in response. A smile developed on her face. "Hope and I became good friends since they moved in. Turns out she and her son are big fans of Pokémon Battles, and they invited us to come over and watch the Lily of the Valley Conference with them."

'_Lily of the Valley…'_ Serena knew the name. It was the Pokémon League Conference that occurred in the Sinnoh Region. She remembered watching the Kalos League Conference the previous year on television and thought some of the battles were actually pretty cool. _'… Eh, why not? I'm not doing anything else today.'_

"Sure, I'll come with you." She told her mother with a smile.

"Great!" Her mother clapped her hands together, expressing her approval. "Then finish eating breakfast and get dressed. The matches are starting around noon, so we can get there in time."

The girl nodded and proceeded to start eating her pancakes. Once she finished, she dismissed herself from the room and proceeded to get dressed.

'_Wonder what types of trainers made it to the conference this year?'_ Serena thought to herself as she put on her standard outfit: a black blouse and a red skirt.

* * *

Serena and her mother arrived shortly after at their neighbor's house. It was a house of similar size and colors. Most of the houses in Vaniville Town looked identical to each other. It gave the town a simple feeling to it, but in Serena's mind, it added to the boringness of the area.

The mother and daughter knocked on the door to the house and waited outside patiently. A few seconds passed before they were greeted by a woman with short brown hair and green eyes. She was dressed in a white blouse and a pair of black pants. She looked at the girls at her doorstep and smiled brightly, stepping out of the way so they could enter her home.

"How are you doing Hope?" Serena's mother greeted the woman with a smile of her own.

"Doing great Grace. You made it just in time! And I see you brought your daughter." The woman, Hope, greeted them.

"Yeah, this is Serena." Grace introduced her daughter, who have a wave and a quiet 'hello' in response.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Your mother has said so many nice things about you." She said politely. "Come on in you two. Calem has already got the television screen on and the first round of matches has just started."

Serena and Grace nodded as they entered the house. They were escorted to a small, comfy living room with a large red sofa and a wide-screen television. The screen was displaying a match on screen between two trainers in the Lily of the Valley Conference: a boy named Daisuke and another boy named Paul. Sitting on the couch with his eyes glued to the television screen was a boy with a red hat over his black hair wearing a blue jacket with a white stripe going the center and a pair of blue pants. Serena immediately recognized him as Calem.

"You picked a bad time to leave the room, Mom." Calem commented as the three girls entered the room. "Daisuke's already down to his last Pokémon."

"Already? But didn't he just send out his Venusaur?" Hope questioned in surprise.

"Yeah, but Paul's Aggron already fainted it." The boy answered with a sigh. "Paul's probably going to win this one, unfortunately. I hope he loses soon though. I don't like his attitude. He doesn't seem to care about any of the Pokémon in the battle: not even his own."

"What a jerk." Serena mumbled to herself. If Calem was right, then she also hoped that Paul would lose somehow. She had no respect for anybody who mistreated their Pokémon.

Her voice seemed to surprise Calem. He turned his head away from the television screen and noticed her and her mother. He immediately got up from his seat on the couch and walked over to them, extending his hand out to them.

"I'm sorry for not greeting you two when you came in. Hi." He greeted both Grace and Serena. "I'm Calem. It's nice to meet you both."

"Nice to meet you too." Both Serena and Grace replied back. Both girls shook his hand before they, along with him and his mother, sat down on the couch.

Like Calem predicted, Paul managed to defeat his opponent's final Pokémon, a Magneton, and managed to win his match using only one Pokémon. Paul returned his Aggron to its pokéball before he walked off with a smirk on his face.

"Hmph. It says a lot about somebody if you only see them on TV and can already tell they are an asshole." Calem grumbled.

"Calem, we have company over! Watch your language!" Hope scolded her son.

The boy's eyes widened for a second before he looked downward. "Y-Yeah. Sorry…"

Serena giggled in response. She opened her mouth to respond, but the words died on her lips as the television screen changed images. The next match was about to begin and two new trainers were seen on the screen.

The first trainer appeared to be rather eccentric. He was an older boy with long black hair and blue eyes that wore all green. He had a cape and a hat on and was holding a golden harp. He was strumming on the harp as he waited for the match to start. The second trainer was a boy with brown eyes wearing a red hat over his black hair. He was wearing a pair of jeans and had on a black and white jacket with one large golden stripe going across the jacket in the center. There was also a Pikachu standing on the trainer's shoulders.

"A Pikachu, huh?" Calem commented as he looked at the second trainer with interest. "That's always been one of my favorite Pokémon."

Serena was about to comment about the Pikachu as well when she finally started to truly study the second trainer's face. She looked at the screen intently as the image of the boy she knew from Kanto returned to her mind.

'_No… There's no way. This is a Sinnoh conference. It can't be him.'_ She told herself, rejecting those thoughts. _'… But could it?'_

As if answering her question, a small bar appeared on the screens with close-up pictures of the competing trainers' faces. Underneath their pictures were their names: Nando and Ash Ketchum respectively.

"AH! It is him!" Serena nearly squealed in excitement. A wide smile developed on her face. "That's Ash!"

"You know him?" Hope looked at the girl in surprise. Calem, too, gave the girl a similar look.

"How do you know that boy?" Her mother questioned suspiciously.

"Mom, surely you remember! Back when we lived in Kanto and you forced me to go that summer camp that was run by Professor Oak." Serena clarified for her mother.

"Yeah, I remember. You told me that story a couple of times. You really didn't like the camp at first, but then you met that boy-" Grace's eyes widened in realization as she studied 'Ash's' in more detail. A grin developed on her face. "Well, how about that. That _is_ him. Looks like he's become a pretty powerful Pokémon trainer to qualify for a conference in Sinnoh."

"So you went to camp with him when you were little kids? You know a good Pokémon trainer like him?" Calem questioned as he looked to Serena in excitement. "What's he like? What kind of trainer is he?"

"Uh, well, I don't know." Serena sighed, frowning in response. "I haven't talked to him since Mom and I moved to Kalos. I don't even know if he remembers me."

'… _He has to remember me, right? We were best friends back at the camp…'_ Serena wondered to herself sadly. She then shook her head, pushing those thoughts to the side as she concentrated on the television screen. _'That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that I know what he's up to now! He's become a strong Pokémon trainer. And he looks older…'_ A blush developed on Serena's cheeks as she continued to study him. _'Ash… it's been so long. I'm so glad to see how you are doing.'_

Both Nando and Ash sent out a Roserade and Staraptor respectively, beginning their battle. Serena remained tense as she watched the television screen intently: even more intently than Calem and their parents. She becomes excited seeing Ash's Staraptor knock out the Roserade and becomes nervous when Nando sends out an Armaldo that beats the Staraptor. Her nerves continue to grow until she finally sees Ash's Heracross defeat Nando's Kricketune, knocking out his opponent's final Pokémon. Ash is, subsequently, declared the victor of the match.

"He won!" Serena exclaimed happily as she brought her hands to her heart. "Thank goodness."

The Heracross that Ash used in the battle flew back to his trainer and started sucking on his head affectionately. The trainer laughed as he congratulated his Pokémon for doing a good job.

"He obviously cares about his Pokémon a lot. He seems like a great trainer and a great person." Hope commented with a smile.

"He's a great trainer alright. His Pokémon are really tough." Calem noted with a smirk. "When I start my own adventure, he's somebody I'd like to try and fight."

Serena didn't say anything for a little while. She continued to watch Ash and his Heracross interact on the screen. She smiled as she watched him care for his Pokémon and a blush developed on her cheeks. Her mother was quick to notice it.

"What are you thinking about Serena?" She asked her daughter teasingly.

Serena immediately turned her attention to her mother and started to laugh nervously. "N-Nothing. Nothing at all. I was just thinking about how good it is that Ash won his match."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's all you were thinking about." Grace commented with a sarcastic tone, causing her daughter to blush even further.

The next match began shortly after. Serena watched alongside her mother, Calem, and his mother, but she was significantly less interested in this match. Her thoughts were mostly centered around her childhood friend, his upcoming matches, and how he had been doing these past few years.

* * *

The next few days followed the same pattern, as Serena and Grace would come over their neighbors' house to watch the Lily of the Valley Conference. Each day, Serena would look forward to watching Ash on the television screen and seeing more of the Pokémon he managed to catch over the course of his career. Each match, she would get slightly worried that he would lose and she would not see him again on screen, but her fears were all for naught, as Ash managed to win battle after battle. During the previous day, he had managed to defeat Paul, much to Calem's and everyone else's joy.

Today, however, Serena was more nervous than usual. Ash had made it to the semi-finals of the conference and was now against Tobias, the mysterious trainer who, for some reason, had a Darkrai. The announcers and commentators all hyped up the trainer as somebody who managed to defeat all of the Sinnoh gym leaders and all of his opponents with just his Darkrai alone.

After watching him these past few days, Serena knew that Ash was a skilled trainer and was not somebody to be concerned about in battle. Today, due to all the rumors and hype around Tobias, she couldn't help herself to be worried.

The match begins and, as predicted, Tobias sends out his Darkrai. The legendary dark-type Pokémon manages to defeat Ash's Heracross, Torkoal, and Gible. Ash's fourth Pokémon, a Sceptile, manages to land a solid hit with its leaf blade and knocks out the Darkrai. Serena, along with Calem and their mothers, immediately applaud the boy from their seats on the couch.

"That was incredible! That was just…" Hope started, trying to come up with words.

"He beat a legendary Pokémon. He's awesome." Calem praised Ash for his success. He looked at the television screen with a burning passion, feeling the urge to enter the upcoming Kalos League Conference.

'_Ash… You're incredible.'_ Serena blushed as she watched Ash congratulate his Sceptile for the performance.

The cheering from the Kalos watchers stopped, however, once Tobias revealed his second Pokémon: a Latios. They stared at the screen in complete astonishment.

"He has two legendary Pokémon! Who is this guy?" Calem questioned.

"I don't know. I've never heard of a trainer like this before." Grace noted with a sigh. "Ash is going to have his work cut out for him with this. More than we thought, at least."

Tobias's Latios made a strong first impression with the audience, defeating both Ash's Sceptile and Swellow. Ash then sends out his Pikachu as his final Pokémon. The final battle drags on for a few minutes before Pikachu finally manages to make a direct hit on the Latios with its iron tail, but also after taking a direct hit from Latios's luster purge. An explosion occurred and, once the smoke cleared, both Pikachu and Latios were revealed to be knocked out. Since Pikachu was his last available Pokémon, Tobias was immediately declared the victor.

"No!" Serena nearly shouted once the match was called.

The room had gotten quiet after Ash's Pikachu had fainted. Thanks to Serena, the group had become invested in Ash and, considering his success, were all rooting for him to win the entire tournament. To see him lose in the semi-finals upset the Kalos viewers. A few more moments of awkward silence passed by before Grace decided to say her opinion.

"He may not have won, but he did a great job. He managed to defeat two legendary Pokémon, and that's more than I think most people can say ever." She stated with a slight smile.

"… I'd agree." Hope commented. "There's no doubt he proved himself to everyone. He's definitely a trainer that's going to become one of the greats one of these days."

Serena nodded wordlessly to their comments. While she agreed with both her Mom and Calem's mother that Ash _was_ amazing that defeating two legendary Pokémon was a great accomplishment, she was still upset to see her childhood friend lose. What made it worse, though, was that he was probably not going to show up much any longer during the conference. That meant that this could be the last time she sees Ash again.

Her eyes started to develop tears at the thought of not seeing Ash again, but she immediately brought her hands to her eyes and brushed them away. _'… I know it was just seeming him on TV, but this was the first time I've seen or heard about Ash in years, and I'm not going to wait that long to see him again.'_ She told herself. _'I know I'm not going to let myself cry. I'll see him again – only this time, it'll be in person!'_

"The only question is how…" She mumbled to herself aloud.

"'How' what?" Calem questioned her.

"Huh?" Serena blinked in surprise, unaware that she had been talking out loud. Once she realized that she had been, she started to blush embarrassment and shake her head. "It's n-nothing. N-Nothing important at all."

Grace eyed her daughter as she laughed nervously. A smile developed on her face as she realized what Serena was most likely thinking.

"You know, the conference posts all the information about the trainers competing on their website. Perhaps you might find something on there so you can communicate with him and tell your friend about how well he did." She told Serena teasingly.

Serena's eyes widened in response as she registered what her mother was saying. A grin then developed on her face.

'_Mom's right. There has to something on the website. Like an e-mail address or a phone number or something. I can definitely communicate with him!'_ Serena told herself happily. _'… And maybe even meet up with him.'_

Serena and her mother eventually bade farewell to Calem and his mother and went back to their home. Once they returned, Serena rushed to her room and quickly went to her computer.

* * *

"Hey Dawn, do you care if I use your computer to send an e-mail to my Mom?" Ash questioned his friend.

The girl, Dawn, nodded in response. "Go right ahead. Although wouldn't it be easier to just call her?"

"I tried, but she didn't answer. So I'm just going to leave her an e-mail." The Pokémon trainer sighed in response. His Pikachu, who had been atop his shoulders, sighed as well.

Dawn nodded in understanding and showed Ash to the computer in her room. Once there, Ash got onto the internet and began signing onto his e-mail to let his mother know what time he was going to be back in Kanto by.

It was a surreal feeling for Ash, knowing that his journey in Sinnoh was nearly complete. He had a great time with both Brock and Dawn on his quest and managed to place higher than he had before in the Pokémon Conference tournament. Although he was disappointed that he ended up losing to Tobias, he knew that he proved himself as a great trainer. He also knew that he had and his Pokémon team were stronger than they ever had before. That thought was able to push back his feeling of disappointment and allowed him to concentrate on the future.

'_We're still getting stronger each year. I'm just becoming one step closer to becoming a Pokémon Master.'_ He told himself with a smirk as he typed in his e-mail address into the sign-in box. He then clicked the button and opened up his e-email.

"Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the screen. Ash noticed what Pikachu was talking about and his eyes widened at the sight.

"… Wait, what the heck?" He mumbled in shock.

Ash didn't use his e-mail often. He only used it to communicate with his mother, Professor Oak, Misty, and May every once in a while. As a result, he never had many e-mails in his inbox. Now, however, his entire inbox was filled with e-mails.

"You're a popular guy now, aren't you?" Dawn giggled as she looked over Ash's shoulder to the computer screen. "Who are they all from?"

"I don't know! I don't recognize half of these addresses." Ash answered, shaking his head. "Is this what spam is? I don't think I've ever gotten anything like this before."

"It's probably all fan-mail."

Ash and Dawn turned their heads and saw Brock enter the room. The elder Pokémon trainer walked forward to the computer and looked over Ash's shoulder at the screen and chuckled at the sight.

"Yeah, just like I thought. Look at some of the subjects of the e-mails." Brock told him.

Ash did as Brock suggested and looked at some of the subjects. A small smile developed on his face as he read them off.

"'I'm your biggest fan.' 'You were awesome!' 'Way to represent the Kanto region Ash!' 'You are the best trainer ever!'" Ash read off e-mail after e-mail, his eyes widening further in surprise. "… I can't believe so many people were rooting for me! How did they even get my e-mail address?"

"Remember Ash? The Lily of the Valley Conference asked for your information when you signed-up. They must have posted the information online and some of the people watching just had to e-mail you." Dawn told the trainer from Pallet Town. She punched him lightly on the shoulder and giggled. "You earned yourself a fan club with how well you did out there Ash."

"… Heh." Ash chuckled in response. He turned his attention to Pikachu. "Isn't that funny Pikachu? We had this many people rooting for us during the tournament."

"Pi pika Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered in agreement. The electric mouse Pokémon felt happy knowing that they had so much support from people they had never even met. That support meant a lot to both him and his trainer.

"Well, what are you waiting for Ash? Open one of them!" Dawn nearly demanded.

Ash chuckled as he looked through the list of e-mails, looking for one to open first. He read all of the different subjects and was having a hard time deciding which one to open first. Then, however, one e-mail stood out.

Unlike the rest of the e-mails, this one did not have a subject that was overly congratulatory towards him. This one's subject was a plain and simple 'Hello'. It was sent from some girl named 'Serena Paschall'. The name rang a bell in his head, but he couldn't place exactly where. Did he know her?

"Pika." Pikachu grumbled impatiently, wanting Ash to open an e-mail so he could read what people had to say about him and Ash. Sparks of electricity flew from his cheeks as way to express his irritation.

"Ah, sorry." Ash apologized to Pikachu.

He quickly shrugged and decided to open up the e-mail. He, along with Dawn, Brock, and Pikachu, all stared at the computer screen, reading the message.

"_Hello Ash. My name's Serena: Serena Paschall. I don't know if you remember me… but we used to be good friends back in Pallet Town. You and I went to the same summer camp that Professor Oak hosted eight years ago. One day, I got lost in the forest and ended up hurting my knee. You found me and helped me get back to the summer camp. We became good friends afterwards. It was only about a week after that camp where I had to move away from Pallet Town to Kalos._

"_Yeah, you probably don't remember me. It's kinda not that important nowadays for you guess. I just remembered you when my mother and our neighbors were watching the Lily of the Valley Conference and saw you battling. I just had to reach out to you._

"_I also had to tell you that you did an amazing job in the tournament. You were just simply amazing! The bond you and your Pokémon have is really touching – especially the bond between you and your Pikachu. It seemed like the two of you were in sync the entire time you were out there. You did such an amazing job and you had four fans cheering loudly for you here in the small Vaniville Town in Kalos. We even had one person come by and tell us we were being too loud with our cheering! Haha!_

"_But yeah, you were amazing out there. My neighbor, Calem, won't stop talking about how good of a trainer you were and how much you inspired him with your battle against Paul and Tobias. He's going to start his journey as a Pokémon trainer soon to compete in the Kalos Pokémon League thanks to you. _

"_I don't really want to be a bother and bore you with things for too long, but I just wanted to say hi and congratulate you on all of your success as a Pokémon trainer. I am so lucky to have met you back when we were kids. You're a great trainer Ash and you really helped me out: both when we are kids and nowadays. I still remember when you told me 'Don't give up until it's over!' and tell myself that sometimes if something's going wrong. It really helps a lot at times._

"_You can e-mail back if you want sometime so we can maybe catch up. I'd love to hear more about how you have doing these past eight years! But for now, I don't want to keep you busy for too long. So, I hope you have a good day and, once again, congratulations on doing so well in the conference! Best of luck with whatever your next adventure is!_

"_Serena."_

The room was silent once everybody finished reading the e-mail. Dawn, Brock, and even Pikachu felt a little bad about reading an e-mail that was as personal as that. They looked over to Ash to see if he was going to say anything to them. He did not address them, however. He simply re-read the e-mail again.

A few minutes of silence passed before Dawn decided to speak up.

"Is that somebody you know, Ash?" She asked.

Ash didn't respond immediately. He was trying to recall his time at Professor Oak's Summer Camp. He had not thought much about that day in the past few years, as his life became more focused on his own Pokémon and his training. Now that he was thinking about it, he tried to recall what he did there and who he met.

It took him a few minutes, but he finally started to remember a girl his age with honey-like brown hair with a pink hat that tripped in the middle of the forest because a Poliwag scared her. He remembered her crying and remembered how he helped her by giving her a handkerchief and helping her get out of the forest. As he thought more about it, more memories came back about his time at camp and interacting with the girl.

"… Yeah. I do." Ash finally broke his silence with a smile. "I forgot all about her. It's been so long since I heard from Serena."

"She moved away from Pallet Town shortly after." Brock noted, remembering what the e-mail had said.

Ash's smile quickly developed into a frown. Now that he was thinking intently on the subject, he remembered looking around the town for the girl for a little bit before being told that she and her mother had moved. He even remembered coming home that day to his room and crying his room, thinking that he was never going to see his friend ever again.

'_How did I forget about her for so long?'_ He wondered. He quickly pushed those thoughts away and turned to the e-mail. A smile developed on his face. _'Whatever I guess. I'm remembering now and it's good to see that she's okay and remembers me!'_

"Are you going to e-mail her back Ash?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Yeah. It's been a long time since I heard from her. I'd like to take advantage of it and see how she's doing!" Ash replied to his friend.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaimed as it walked over to the keyboard. "Pikachu pi pika Pikachu!"

The Pokémon Trainer from Pallet Town quickly realized what his partner was asking him. He was wanting to meet up with Ash's friend and see what she was like. Ash chuckled at Pikachu's request.

"I'd like to see her too. Maybe we can arrange a meeting sometime. I think it'd be a lot more fun to see her and talk in person than through e-mail." Ash stated. "… Where did she say she lives again? Kalos?"

Ash re-scanned the e-mail, looking for a reference to where his childhood friend was now living exactly. He read the words 'Vaniville Town' in the Kalos region and made a note to remember that. As he was looking through the e-mail once more, he came across another part that stuck out to him: about how Serena's neighbor, Calem, was looking forward to trying to get into the Kalos Pokémon League's conference.

A smirk developed on his face. He was going to look for another conference to try and enter and it seemed like there was one he could enter. Perhaps he'd get to see his friend sooner than later…

"Hey Pikachu? Looks like we have another region to try and take on. What do you say?" He suggested to his partner.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded his head fervently in agreement.

Immediately, Ash began to type his response back to Serena. Both Dawn and Brock left the room to give him his privacy. They could tell how excited Ash was to hear from his old friend and didn't want to be a bother to him. Ash and Pikachu were left alone as they concentrated on what exactly to say back to Serena.

* * *

"He replied!" Serena squealed loudly from her room.

The girl had, admittedly, been checking her e-mail frantically waiting for him to respond. Each time she checked and didn't see the response upset her, as she was starting to get worried that Ash really didn't remember her and thought she was some crazy fan girl or something. Getting the response back finally made her extremely happy and she didn't waste a second to open it.

"Hopefully I didn't sound too much like a weirdo in my last e-mail…" She mumbled to herself as she started to read his response back to her.

"_Hey Serena! Yeah, I remember you. I had forgotten for a while, but now I'm remembering everything about the Summer Camp. It really has been that long, huh? Time flies by I guess! I still remember looking around Pallet Town and finding out that you guys had moved. That was kinda a depressing day…"_

"He remembered me! He really did!" Serena cheered loudly. A second passed before her cheer vanished and her eyes widened. "He looked for me and Mom when we left?"

Immediately, she felt guilty. She couldn't remember why she never talked to Ash and told him about the move. She didn't even remember why didn't say goodbye to him. Her mother's announcement about the 'move' came as such a surprise to her and was sudden that she didn't have time to properly react at all.

Hearing that Ash had looked for her after she had moved both touched her greatly that he cared for her like that and made her feel incredibly guilty for not seeing him before she left.

More than anything else, though, she was happy that he remembered who she was. She quickly returned her attention back to his e-mail.

"_Never mind that, though. How have you been doing? Nothing would be boring for me. I'd love to hear about what you have been doing these past eight years! Are you a Pokémon trainer yourself? Do you have many friends? What's Kalos like? Can you speak another language? Because I remember hearing that the people of Kalos can speak another language that other people don't speak in Kanto or anywhere else! _

"_Heh… sorry about all of the questions. I just have a lot of things I want to ask you about and catch up with! Thanks again for all the comments about the tournament, by the way. Yeah, my Pokémon did a really good job this year. This is the farthest we've ever gotten in a tournament and I couldn't be more proud of my team. I'm glad to know we had some fans in Kalos!_

_"Speaking of Kalos, you got me thinking about the Pokémon League there. Your neighbor is going to try and go for it this year? Perhaps I should come to! I don't have any more plans right now, so the idea of trying out for another Pokémon league sounds nice to me!  
_

"… _Yeah, I decided. I'm just going to come to Kalos. I'll definitely come and try to take on the gym leaders and apply for the Kalos League Conference. And while I'm there, maybe you and I can hang out and travel together. Or at least meet up. It might be more fun to catch up with each other in person rather than an e-mail!"_

"_I'm going to have to talk to my Mom and Professor Oak about the best way to get to Kalos and how fast I can get over there. Once I figure out what I'm going to do, I'll send you another e-mail and we can figure out how and where we can meet up. _

"_I'm super excited to meet up with you soon someday Serena! Thanks again for sending me the e-mail. It meant a lot to me! I hope you are having a good day as well!_

"_Ash."_

Serena was quiet for a moment. She blinked a few times before she read the e-mail again. She then re-read it a third time, and then a fourth. Once she finished the fourth time, a smile developed on her face as she got out of her chair and started to jump around her room in excitement.

"He's coming, he's coming, he's coming!" She repeated over-and-over again to herself.

For the first since she moved to Kalos, Serena was going to see her childhood best friend. And, there was a chance that she'd be going on an adventure with him. Nothing else could happen that day that would bring down her mood.

* * *

**Quick Trivia:**

1: Serena has no official 'canon' last name, so I chose to make one for her. 'Paschall' is actually the last name of her English dub voice actress, Haven Paschall. It also seemed to fit somebody from the Kalos region, so I went with that.

2: Ash was reintroduced to Serena through e-mail and put in a little more thought about the subject than the one in canon. I really do think if prodded enough, Ash would have remembered Serena when she was asked. But that's just my opinion at least.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hello everybody! :) I hope you all enjoyed the beginning of my story, _One Year Early._ I recently got back into the Pokémon XY anime and I couldn't stop myself from becoming an Amourshipper. And I also couldn't stop this idea from developing in my head. I finally sat down and decided to start writing it and now I'm super excited to get working on the story for you guys!

Just a small heads-up: the story is taking place a year early, like the title suggests. While I may follow some of the events that happen in the anime loosely, I want to create a mostly new story for you all to read. I wanted to get involved and make an original Amourshipping story, so I'm super excited to get starting on writing it for you guys.

Feel free to review or message me about your thoughts. I'm trying to create the best stories I can, so any criticism and critiques are always appreciated. I'm just trying to make the best possible story for you all.

That's all I have for now at least. I'll have the next update on here as fast as I can! Until then :)


	2. Arriving in Kalos

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon in any regards - the video games, the anime, or the merchandise. I don't own anything worth that much money, sadly. :(**

* * *

_Two weeks later…_

'_Today's the big day!'_ Ash told himself as walked in front of a mirror in the room he was in. Pikachu followed closely behind the boy.

The teenage Pokémon Trainer was wearing new clothes that his mother had got for him. He now had a new pair of jeans that were a darker shade of blue and a blue jacket with white stripes running down the center of the jacket and on his arms. He also received a new pair of black fingerless gloves and a new red hat that had a white pokéball on the center of it. Ash never considered himself somebody who cared about fashion or what he was wearing, but he always did enjoy the new outfits that his mother would occasionally get him. He continued to study his reflection, grinning at the image.

"How do I look Pikachu?" He questioned his Pokémon.

"Pi pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as it gave his trainer a grin of his own, letting him know how pleased he was with his new clothes.

"Heh, thanks buddy." Ash replied. He then patted his shoulder, which urged Pikachu to jump onto his shoulder. "You know, I have a real good feeling. This year is going to be our year. We're going to take Kalos by storm. What do you say?"

"Pikachu!" The electric-mouse Pokémon nodded his head in agreement.

Ash chuckled as he walked away from the mirror to go get his backpack. At that moment, he heard a loud knock from the door to the room.

"Ash, are you almost done? Professor Oak and I are waiting for you. Your flight will be leaving soon!" The voice of his mother, Delia Ketchum, reminded him.

"I know Mom. I'm coming." Ash replied as he grabbed his backpack and put it on.

The young trainer made sure he had everything in his pockets and in his backpack. Once he was sure he had all of his necessary supplies for traveling, he opened the door to the room and walked out of the room he was in. Outside the door, he was greeted by his mother.

"Ready Ash? Did you remember to pack extra 'you-know-what's'?" She questioned, smiling brightly at her son.

"Mom!" He grumbled, shaking his head in embarrassment. Pikachu started to laugh, which caused him to feel even more embarrassed. "We already talked about this when we left Pallet Town. Of course I have them!"

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing." Delia giggled to herself. "If you have everything, though, we should be on our way. Professor Oak is waiting outside the Pokémon Center."

Both Ash and Pikachu nodded and proceeded to follow his mother out of the hallway of the Pokémon Center.

It was Delia's idea for them, along with Professor Oak, to stay the night at the Pokémon Center in Viridian City the night before the flight. Ash's flight was relatively early in the morning and traveling from Pallet Town would have caused them to wake up extremely early in the morning: something that Delia knew her son would not enjoy.

She, along with Ash and Pikachu, exited the Pokémon Center. Standing outside was Professor Oak. He noticed the arrival of the Ketchum family and smiled at them.

"So I take it you are both ready?" He asked the trainer and his Pokémon.

"You bet!" "Pikachu!" Both Ash and Pikachu declared in unison.

Their excitement caused Professor Oak to chuckle. "I believe you both. Well, let's get moving. The airport isn't that far of a walk from here, so we'll have plenty of time."

"Awesome. Let's get on our way then!" Ash exclaimed.

Professor Oak and Delia chuckled at the boy's excitement as the three of them began their walk towards the airport.

"You know, I was surprised you expressed in interest to travel to Kalos so fast after you returned home." Professor Oak commented to the young trainer. "Not really surprised that you wanted to travel and go for another Pokémon League: just surprised you had a destination in mind the second you got back. But Kalos should be a good experience for you."

"Have you been there before Professor?" Ash asked curiously.

"Not in a long time, Ash. I believe the last time I was in Kalos was to visit Professor Augustine Sycamore when he first set up his laboratory there." The Pokémon Professor recalled. "Hmm… You're going to go visit him, right Ash?"

"Uh huh. I'm actually meeting up with Serena at his lab once I get to Kalos." Ash told the professor. "Besides, after hearing you tell me a few things about him, I knew I just had to meet him for myself."

"He's a good man. And very smart. I'm sure he will be able to help you when you arrive in the region." The professor told Ash with a chuckle.

When the young trainer first expressed in interest in traveling to Kalos, Professor Oak nearly demanded he go and visit Professor Sycamore. He spent a long time talking about how he was the youngest official Pokémon Professor in the regions. Professor Oak also went talked about his accomplishments as a researcher and the current topic of his research: mega evolution. Once Ash had heard about the man and what his current research was about, Ash knew he had to meet Professor Sycamore at least once. He was looking forward to meeting this man that Professor Oak spoke so highly about.

"I'm a little more curious about how your meeting with Serena will go." Delia commented with a smile. "I remember meeting her once or twice when she was in Kanto and she was an absolute sweetie. You have to let me talk to her once on the phone or something Ash. I'd love to see how she's doing while you're there."

"I will have her talk to you, don't worry Mom." Ash chuckled at his mother's request. He then turned his attention back to the professor. "Do you remember her yet, by the way?"

"Hmm… I tried, but I can't recall her Ash. Sorry." The Pokémon Professor sighed in response. "I still can't remember exactly what summer camp you are talking about too."

"You may need to check up on your memory, professor. If you can't remember that, then there's no telling what else you're forgetting." Ash replied with a laugh. "Who knows? Maybe the next time you'll see Gary, you'll forget his name or something and think it's something stupid."

Pikachu laughed loudly at his trainer's joke. Delia giggled as well. Professor Oak, on the other hand, felt his eye twitch in annoyance.

"For your information, my memory is fine. And I'll certainly never forget what my grandson's name." He grumbled in response. He then recognized something about what Ash said and couldn't help but chuckle. _'… Although, it's funny you mention Gary.'_

The remainder of the walk to the airport was filled with conversation as Ash, Pikachu, Delia, and Professor Oak talked and joked to each other. It wouldn't be horribly long before they arrived and Ash would be on his plane out of Kanto.

* * *

"It's been a while since we've flown anywhere, hasn't it Pikachu? We've usually been taking boats and traveling by sea." Ash commented to his Pokémon.

"Pi Pikachu." Pikachu nodded his head. The electric-mouse was rather excited about flying in the sky and looking out the window to the clouds.

The trainer and Pokémon duo took a second to look at their tickets. They were actually taking a flight to Hearthome City for a connecting flight to Lumiose City in the Kalos region. They were only going to be back in Sinnoh for around thirty minutes before they began their new adventure to a whole new region.

Ash and Pikachu stayed with his mother and Professor Oak for a few more minutes before an announcement called over the intercom in the airport, urging for all passengers on the flight to Hearthome City to report to the gate so they could board the flight. Once they heard the announcement, the group realized that they were going to have go their separate ways.

"Ash…" Delia gave her son a smile as she pulled him in for a tight hug. "You message me when you get to Kalos as fast as you can and let me know you made it there safely and met up with your friend. I expect to hear from you often, okay?"

"Okay Mom." Ash told her with a smile as he returned her hug. Pikachu, who was on Ash's shoulder, joined the hug and rubbed his cheeks against Delia.

"You and Pikachu are used to hearing this, but you two be safe and look after one another. I don't know what I would do if something happened to either of you." She told them. The mother resisted the urge to tear up. This wasn't her first time watching her son and his Pokémon leave on an adventure, and it wasn't going to be the last. In the end, they'd look after each other and keep the other one safe. She knew that… at least, that's what she could tell herself whenever she was worried about him.

"We'll be fine, won't we buddy?" Ash asked his Pikachu.

"Pika." Pikachu replied as he continued to rub his cheeks against Delia affectionately.

Eventually, the mother and son broke their hug. Ash then turned his attention to Professor Oak, who was smiling at the boy.

"I've already sent all of your Pokémon to Professor Sycamore's lab. That way, when you are in Kalos, you can switch them to your team whenever you want." Professor Oak told the boy. "Who knows? Maybe when you get to Kalos, you might decide to take one of them with you on the adventure right at the start of it."

"Heh. Who knows?" Ash chuckled. He then held out his hand towards the Pokémon Professor. "Thanks a lot Professor Oak for everything. I'll make sure to give you a call to when I can."

"Please do Ash. And make sure you catch some new Pokémon. I know Kalos has a set of ones native to only their country, and I know some Pokémon from Unova also live there. I'm curious to see what you may find out there for your team." Professor Oak told him as he shook Ash's hand. "But you need to get going. Your flight is going to be soon."

"Yeah, I know." The Pokémon Trainer nodded in understanding. "I'll message you both when I get there. Thanks again for everything Mom, Professor Oak!"

With those words, Ash and Pikachu ran off towards their gate to board their flight. They looked back and waved goodbye to Delia and Professor Oak, who returned their waves. A few seconds later and both Ash and Pikachu were out of sight, leaving the two adults alone.

"… You know, Ash keeps running off across the world so fast. He's always on some adventure." Delia noted with a smile. "It doesn't even really upset me anymore. He's matured a lot from when he first started his journey."

"I agree. And he's only going to continue to mature as he goes further on his journey." Professor Oak chuckled.

Delia nodded at the professor's comment. She then started to ask him a question. "Did you ever let Ash know about-"

"No." He answered before she was able to finish her question. "I figured it would be a nice surprise for him."

Delia nodded in understanding. A few more minutes passed as they checked a nearby computer for information about Ash's flight to Hearthome City. Once the computer updated the status of the flight and showed that the plane had taken off, the two adults decided to leave the Viridian City Airport together.

'_Ash… Pikachu… Have fun, you two.'_ Delia smiled, imagining the adventure her son and his best friend were going to have in Kalos.

* * *

"_Ash, is that you?" Serena gasped at the sight as Ash walked off the airplane. _

"_Yeah, I'm here Serena. And I'm never going to let you leave me ever again." Ash informed her with a smile. He started to walk up to her holding a bouquet of flowers. _

_The honey-brown haired girl blushed, both from the bouquet and from his comment, but smiled brightly at the boy. "Good, because I'm not going to leave you again. I… I'm so glad you're here Ash!"_

_Ash stopped walking towards Serena and stared to run. Serena began running as well and the two teenagers hugged each other the second they were next to each other. They looked each other in the eyes for a few second before their faces inched closer and closer to each other._

"Hey Serena? You there?" Calem spoke up.

"Eh?" Serena blinked for a few seconds.

In a matter of seconds, her vision of Ash and her at the Lumiose City Airport vanished. She was no longer with him and was, instead, at the entrance of Lumiose City. Calem was standing in front of her, snapping his fingers.

"You zoned out for a second. You alright?" He questioned.

"Heh, of course I'm fine. Sorry!" Serena replied immediately, blushing slightly. _'… What the heck was that? I can't be thinking about things like that, especially in public!'_

Ever since she saw Ash on television and began communicating with him again through e-mails, Serena had occasionally found herself day-dreaming about the boy. She had always had a crush on Ash since the summer camp. Now, having come back in contact with him and knowing that she would see him soon, her crush had returned and come back stronger than ever, resulting in her 'daydreams'. They were usually nothing spectacular: they were usually them just meeting up in some romantic fashion. Ash would be this charming, romantic gentleman to her and the two of them would kiss. This dream, however, was interrupted by Calem before it got to the 'kiss', much to Serena's embarrassment.

"You sure about that? Because now you're red." Calem commented, still giving his neighbor a confused look.

"Positive! I'm fine!" Serena exclaimed.

"… If you say." Calem sighed. The boy really didn't understand girls his age – or people, for that matter. It was the main reason why he didn't really have many friends, even before he moved to Kalos.

The two neighbors proceed to walk into Lumiose City. Both of them were moving through the city fast, excited for what was about to happen.

"Today's the day where I finally start my Pokémon journey. I'll get my first Pokémon and finally become a trainer!" Calem exclaimed happily.

"Me too. I'm finally actually doing this. It's going to be a lot of fun." Serena said cheerfully, equally excited about getting her own Pokémon.

"Yeah, but I bet your excited about something else, aren't you?" Her neighbor commented teasingly. "Or should I say someone?"

"I-I haven't seen him in years. I think I have a right to be excited." She replied defensively.

"I know. I'm excited you get to see him again." Calem told her with a smile. He then started digging in his pocket and pulled out a map of Lumiose City. "… Anyway, we should probably focus on getting to Professor Sycamore's lab."

Serena nodded in understanding. The two neighbors continued walking through the city, looking for the building.

* * *

"Now boarding Flight 998 with direct service to Lumiose City." A flight attendant at a gate in the Hearthome City Airport announced on an intercom.

Ash and Pikachu grinned at the announcement. Their flight from Viridian City was quick and easy and now they were going to be on their final flight towards Kalos. The two could barely contain themselves as they stood up and joined the line to board the flight to Lumiose City.

The two quickly showed the ticket to the flight attendant and were permitted to board the plane. Ash and Pikachu quickly went through the runway and entered the plane. Once they were onboard, they found their seats and quickly sat in the one next to the window. Pikachu immediately jumped off Ash's shoulders and got up-close to the window.

"Pikachu, pika pi pika!" He stated, keeping his eyes focused on the window.

"Heh, yeah I know. We'll be in the air soon Pikachu." Ash told his Pokémon with a laugh. "Finally, we're going to be in Kalos soon."

"Pikapi. Pikachu pika pika." Pikachu stated as he turned his head back to his trainer.

Ash understood Pikachu's comment about being excited to see Serena. He chuckled in response and patted Pikachu's head.

"I'm excited to see her too." He said, a smile developing on his face. "She said in her last e-mail that she was actually going to pick up her first Pokémon today. I wonder what type of Pokémon she's going to pick."

"Well, looks like you and I are going to sit next to each other on this flight." A voice interrupted Ash's conversation with Pikachu – a familiar voice.

Both Ash and Pikachu faced the source of the voice and looked at him in surprise. A boy Ash's age with brown spiky hair and black eyes sat down and took the seat next to Ash. He was wearing a black collared shirt and had on a pair of brown cargo pants. The boy was also wearing a necklace with a single, silver stone on it. The boy had a smirk on his face as he looked at the stunned faces of Ash and Pikachu.

"What? It hasn't been that long since we last saw each other. Surely you remember who I am, don't ya Ashy-boy?" The boy questioned teasingly.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed happily as it rushed over to the new boy to greet him.

"Hey Pikachu! It's good to see you again." He told the electric mouse Pokémon as he petted him on his back. Pikachu sighed peacefully, pleased with the boy's action.

"G-Gary!" Ash finally managed to say his name. A grin developed on the trainer's face. "It's great to see you! What are you doing here?"

"And it's great to see you too." He greeted his friend and rival with a grin of his own. "And same thing as you: heading to Kalos. Didn't my grandpa tell you?"

Ash shook his head. "Nuh uh. Professor Oak didn't say anything to me."

"Really? Guess he wanted to surprise you or something." Gary shrugged in response.

"What are you going to do in Kalos? Aren't you working with Professor Rowan and doing research for him?" The black-haired boy questioned.

"I still am working with him. Just he and Grandpa thought I should be doing some unique research of my own." Gary answered. "When you told Grandpa about your plans to head to Kalos, he did a little research on Professor Sycamore to see how he was doing and he came across some of the notes the man had published on the concept of mega evolution. He then passed it on to Professor Rowan and I and got me really interested. So, he, Professor Rowan, and I decided it would be a good idea for me to come to Kalos for a little while and do my own research on the subject and see if I can help Professor Sycamore uncover some more of the secrets about it."

"I see." Ash nodded in understanding. He then grinned at his friend and rival. "Mega evolution sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"

"More than 'cool' to me." The Pokémon researcher replied. His hand quickly moved to his side and pulled out a pokéball. "Some of Sycamore's research suggests a Pokémon like my Blastoise can evolve again? And somehow de-evolve?" He then placed the pokéball back on the belt of his shorts. "This is groundbreaking stuff, and I've love to start studying some of this stuff first-hand!"

"Yeah, I can imagine. I'd love to figure out more things about this too. If I can be of any help, I'd love to do something." Ash stated, expressing his agreement. His expression then turned thoughtful. "Kinda crazy to think that something like this was just found out. I wonder what types of Pokémon I have could mega evolve?"

"Probably a bunch. We don't know yet, and that's what makes it all so exciting." Gary stated.

"Heh, you really are interested in this Pokémon research stuff." Ash commented with a chuckle.

"Of course I am!" The brown-haired trainer declared. "… But enough about me. How've you been doing Ash? I got to watch a bit of the Lily of the Valley conference and I gotta say, you did good out there. Really good." A smirk then developed on his lips before he continued. "Although I will say, that if it was me up there instead of you, I probably would have gone and won the whole thing."

"As if!" Ash snorted, punching Gary in the arm playfully.

The two trainers laughed a little bit before they continued their conversations, catching up with each other and talking about some of their own adventures during Kanto and Johto. Ash was excited to see Gary again and to hear that he was coming to Kalos. He didn't know how long he was going to end up with the Pokémon researcher, but he was more than happy to be able to see him for a little bit and just see what his friend and rival was up to.

In a few more minutes, the plane started to take off and head out into the sky towards Lumiose City. Ash, Pikachu, and Gary were all looking forward to landing and were preparing for the adventure to come.

* * *

"Here's the place." Calem announced to Serena.

The two teenagers from Vaniville Town stood directly outside Professor Sycamore's laboratory. Serena was about to study the building in detail when Calem quickly opened the door, entering it. Not wanting to be left behind, she quickly entered the building right behind him. They entered a living-room area and were greeted immediately by a woman wearing a white lab coat.

"Hello you two. How can I help you?" She asked them politely.

"Hello. My name's Calem and this is my neighbor, Serena." Calem informed the woman. "We are here to pick up our Pokémon. We sent a message to the professor to let him know we were coming earlier this week."

"Hmm, let me check with him really quick. Don't worry, I'll be right back." The researcher told them as she walked off through an open door in front of them to another room in the laboratory.

Serena and Calem were left alone in the room with nothing to do but to wait. As a result, Calem started to pace back-and-forth impatiently, his eyes constantly on the room the researcher had went into.

"Just give him a little bit Calem. He'll be here." Serena commented with a giggle. During the past few weeks, she had actually gotten to know Calem pretty well. One thing she quickly realized about him was that he had absolutely no patience for anything. He couldn't stand still no matter how hard he tried. The boy needed to be following his plans and any amount of waiting was just going to make him miserable.

"I know. I just… ugh, I want to meet my Pokémon already!" He exclaimed, his pace increasing in speed.

"Do you know what Pokémon you're going to pick?" She questioned curiously.

"Uh huh. I've had this planned out for months now." Calem replied. He stopped pacing so he could focus on the conversation with his neighbor. "And you? Do you know what you're going to choose?"

"I have an idea, yeah." Serena replied with a giggle.

Calem and Serena continued their conversation on the starter Pokémon for a few minutes. It was finally interrupted by the sound of footsteps. The two turned their heads towards the open door and saw a young man with dark unkempt hair and grey eyes. The man was wearing a long white lab coat over a blue collared shirt and black dress pants. He was also carrying a clear cylindrical box that contained three pokéballs inside.

"Hello, and sorry for making you wait for me." The man apologized when he entered the room. "You two are Calem and Serena, correct?"

"That's us. I guess the e-mails did go through." Calem commented, a wide grin developing on his face. "It's very nice to meet you Professor Sycamore!"

"Yes. Thank you for your time!" Serena added politely.

"You two are really nice, I see." Sycamore complimented the two neighbors as he walked up to them. "It's nice to meet you both. Are you two ready to begin your lives as Pokémon trainers?"

"Yes sir!" Both Calem and Serena replied in unison.

Professor Sycamore chuckled as he pressed a button on the box in his hands, opening it. He then grabbed each individual pokéball and opened them, releasing the three Pokémon inside: Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie. The three starter Pokémon immediately smiled and greeted the two teenagers cheerfully.

"Wow, they all look so cute!" Serena gushed, her eyes moving back-and-forth between them.

"Yes, they are all rather cute. And very capable. I happen to really all three of these Pokémon." Sycamore commented as he bent over and patted the heads of each of them, causing them all to smile. "Do any of you already know which one you'd like to pick as your partner or do you want some time?

"I already know." Calem explained as he walked forward.

The boy didn't have anything against Fennekin or Froakie and he actually thought that they looked like they could become really strong Pokémon one day with some training. However, the boy's favorite type of Pokémon was the grass type and Chespin looked just as nice and strong as the other two. As a result, he bent down to Chespin, smiled at the spiny nut Pokémon, and offered his hand.

"Heya Chespin. It's nice to meet you. How do you feel like coming with me and having an adventure?" He asked the Pokémon.

Chespin's eyes widened at first. This wasn't the first new trainer this Chespin had been offered to. He had been rejected multiple times by trainers who much preferred a Froakie or a Fennekin. To see somebody so quickly decide on taking him made him really happy. As a result, the Chespin grinned brightly and the boy and shook his hand.

"Ches Chespin !" He replied excitedly.

The spiny nut Pokémon then jumped at the boy, knocking him to the ground, hugging him. Calem's eyes widened at the sudden impact, but then laughed as he returned the hug.

"You're pretty strong to knock me over so easily. And nice too." He told him. "I have a feeling we're going to make a pretty awesome team!"

"Ches!" Chespin nodded his head in agreement.

"They already seem to be good friends." Professor Sycamore commented with a smile. The man always liked seeing trainers who cared for their Pokémon right from the beginning.

"Heh, they do." Serena giggled in response. She then walked forward towards the Pokémon. "Anyway, I have my choice too."

As cute as all the Pokémon were in person, she did have a choice in mind before she arrived and she was going to stick with that choice. The girl bent down to face the Fennekin and smiled at her.

"Hi Fennekin. It's nice to meet you." Serena told the fox Pokémon, extending her hand towards her. "I think the two of us would make great friends if you'd like to come with me. Does that sound fun to you?'

"Fenn!" Fennekin exclaimed excitedly as she rushed forward to Serena. She then proceeded to lick the girl's hand slightly.

"It seems like both of you seem to have gotten along with your Pokémon already." Professor Sycamore chuckled as he returned the Froakie to its pokéball. He set the box down to the side and then pulled out two pokédexes from the pocket of his lab coat. "Since you two are just getting start, I have a few things I'd like to give to you. Here's a pokédex for each of you."

"Thank you so much!" Both Serena and Calem said in unison as they took a pokédex each from the professor.

Sycamore then dug further into his pockets and pulled two sets of six pokéballs. He then held them out to the two trainers, one set in each of his hands.

"These are also six pokéballs for you to start catching Pokémon with. There's also the pokéball for your partner as well." He told them.

Both Serena and Calem thanked the man again as they took the pokéballs. They proceeded to put everything away except the pokéball for their starter Pokémon. Calem held out the ball and was about to return Chespin to it, but then decided against it. He put the pokéball away and smiled at the spiny nut Pokémon.

"You can return to the ball later. How about you and I start heading out on-foot together, at least for a little bit?" He asked his partner.

"Chespin!" Chespin nodded fervently, approving of his trainer's idea.

"Wait, are you leaving right now?" Serena looked at her neighbor in surprise. "I thought you were going to stay around with me for a little bit. At least until Ash got here."

"Well… I kinda just want to get my own adventure started. I want to get to Santalune City as fast as I can and start trying to get badges for the Kalos League." Calem told her with a smile. "It's something I've been waiting forever for and I kinda don't want to wait any longer if that's okay, sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. It's fine." Serena shook her head in response. "I was just a little surprised, because I thought you wanted to meet Ash with me."

"Oh believe me, I do. I want to meet any guy who made it as far as he did in a Pokémon League conference!" The boy declared. "However, I'll meet him one day. I know I'll run into you guys sometime later. And when I do, I want to be a good enough trainer that I can challenge him to a battle and actually be competition for him."

"Ches!" Chespin exclaimed proudly as he extended the spines on his head a little bit further, making them sharper. Although he didn't know who this 'Ash' was, he knew that that the idea of battling and becoming stronger appealed to him. Therefore, he was in complete agreement with his trainer.

"Yeah, we'll meet up again one day. I'm sure of it." Serena commented as she held out her hand to her neighbor. "Good luck on your adventure, Calem."

"And good luck on yours, whatever you decide to do." Calem replied, shaking her hand.

A few seconds passed before they broke their hand shake. Calem and Chespin waved goodbye to Serena and Professor Sycamore as they started to head out of the laboratory quickly. It didn't take long before they were out, rushing off towards Santalune City.

"And there he goes: off to compete in the Pokémon league." Serena sighed as she watched him leave.

Although Calem did mean well when he told her good luck, she felt a little down at the mention of 'whatever you decide to do'. Truth be told, Serena had no idea exactly _what_ she was going to do. It was part of the reason why she hadn't become a Pokémon trainer earlier. She wasn't exactly certain what she wanted to do with her life. As a result, the girl was actually a little nervous to begin an adventure of her own, not knowing where the journey was going to take her.

"Ken?" Fennekin looked up at her trainer in confusion, sensing that she was a little distressed.

"Oh, don't worry about me Fennekin. I'm fine." The girl turned her attention back to her Pokémon and smiled at her. "Hey, how do you feel about hanging out for a little bit? I have a friend that should be arriving in a few hours, so would you like to maybe explore Lumiose City for a little bit."

"Fenn!" The fox Pokémon stated in agreement.

"You said a little earlier with your friend that you're meeting a friend named Ash, right?" Professor Sycamore questioned. "Ash Ketchum?"

Serena's eyes widened at the sound of his voice. For a moment, she forgot the man was still in the room. She turned her head sheepishly to face him and nod.

"Yeah. He's an old childhood friend from years ago." She answered with a smile. "Do you know him or something?"

"No, I don't. I've heard a bit about him, though. My colleague from Pallet Town, Professor Samuel Oak, spoke highly of him." The man informed her. "He actually transferred all of Ash's Pokémon over to my lab in case if he wanted to use any of them when he was in Kalos."

"Really?" Serena questioned.

"Yes." Sycamore laughed slightly in response. "If you're going to try and kill some time for a little bit, would you like to meet some of his Pokémon then? I just got them out of their pokéballs myself and got to see what types they were."

The idea of meeting Ash's Pokémon and seeing all the different types he caught really appealed to the girl. She turned her attention to Fennekin and smiled at her.

"What do you say Fennekin? Would you like to meet some other Pokémon?" Serena asked the fox Pokémon.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin declared, agreeing with her trainer's idea.

Both Serena and Fennekin followed Professor Sycamore as he walked further into the lab to the area where Ash's Pokémon were. The girl was excited to see what types of Pokémon Ash had. However, she had to admit, she was more excited to see him soon.

'_Just a few more hours…_' She told herself with a smile as she continued to follow the professor.

* * *

"Helioptile is unable to battle. Flaffy is the winner! The match goes to Meyer!" A referee declared proudly.

A teenaged boy with blonde hair and glasses sighed at the announcement. He grabbed a pokéball and returned his Helioptile. He then turned his attention as his opponent, Meyer, returned the Flaffy to its pokéball. The man then walked forward towards the boy.

"You alright Clemont?" He asked.

The boy, Clemont, sighed in response. "I'm alright Dad. I just got a little nervous in the battle I guess."

Meyer frowned at his son's words. "You can't get too nervous in battle, Clemont. You're going to the gym leader of Lumiose City: you have to be confident and be able to stare down and take on anything your opponents send your way!"

"I know, I know." Clemont mumbled in response.

The blonde-haired boy thought he was going to win this match. He had everything calculated with his Pokémon and his father's Pokémon. Based on all of the hypothetical scenarios he imagined in his head, he thought he had come up with the perfect strategies to beat his father finally. After all, he had seen his father battle many trainers before. He knew he was beatable and he knew exactly how some trainers managed to defeat his Pokémon battle. What he didn't know was that he was going to choke in battle and not be able to follow through with any of the strategies he had planned before the battle.

Meyer sighed as he looked at his son. He knew Clemont was a smart boy and a great trainer. It was the reason why he was training Clemont in the first place to take his position as the Lumiose City gym leader within the next month or two. However, now that they were officially beginning the training, Clemont started to freeze up in battle and get nervous. This ultimately resulted in him losing sync with his Pokémon and, ultimately, losing in battle.

His son needed to become more confident before he could move on as the gym leader of Lumiose City, and Meyer didn't know exactly how to help his son with that goal. He could nudge him in a few directions and tell him things, but it was ultimately up to Clemont to gain the confidence to be able to face him and any potential challengers to the gym. He was confident as an inventor, so it made sense that he would become confident in his abilities as a Pokémon trainer... right?

"I guess we'll call it quits for training today." Meyer told his son. "You take your Pokémon to the Pokémon Center. And after, maybe you could do a few errands for me."

"Okay." Clemont replied. "Do you mind if I take Bonnie with me?"

"No, I don't mind. She's probably in her room, playing with a few of her toys." Meyer chuckled in response. He then pulled out a paper with a list of errands: a few items that he had to get. He needed to go to a few stores across the city and stop by Professor Sycamore's lab and pick up something. "Sorry about this, by the way. I need to get to the store as fast as I can and help out there. They've been calling me for a while now."

"Yeah, I know." Clemont nodded in understanding as he took the list from Meyer. He knew his father was constantly busy from running both his own store and from being the gym leader of Lumiose City. It definitely was part of the reason why he was beginning his own training to become gym leader and replace his father.

"Come by the store when you're done. I should be off work when you finish and you, me, and Bonnie can go out to eat." Meyer offered, smiling at his son.

"Sounds nice to me." Clemont replied, smiling back as well.

With those words, the father and son parted ways from the battlefield in the Lumiose City gym, heading out to accomplish their own tasks.

* * *

"Finally, we made it!" Ash declared excitedly.

Ash and Pikachu, upon landing in Lumiose City, got off the plane as quickly as they could and started sprinting through the airport, ready to enter the city and begin their journey. As they continued to run off, Gary followed behind as fast as he could.

"Ash, slow down already. Do you have any idea where you are even going?" He called out to the boy.

"Of course I do!" The black-haired boy replied confidently. "We're heading to-"

The words on Ash's tongue vanished once he and Pikachu finally reached the exit to the airport and looked out into the city. Lumiose City was much larger than the boy had imagined. It was filled with all sorts of buildings and signs. Off in the distance, the two could see the giant Prism Tower, the iconic landmark of Lumiose City and the Kalos region as whole. There were thousands of people walking down the streets and he could see cars moving driving all across the town heading in their own directions.

"Whoa…" He continued to look at the city in surprise.

"Pika." Pikachu mumbled in response, feeling just as surprised as his trainer.

Now that they had stopped sprinting, Gary was able to reach them. The boy noticed their surprised looks and gave them both a look of confusion.

"What are you two so surprised about? Lumiose City is well-known for being one of the largest cities in the world. Heck, it's potentially the largest!" The Pokémon researcher declared. "Did you guys not know this?"

"No." Ash shook his head.

"… Did you do any research at all before coming to Kalos?" Gary asked.

"No…" Ash admitted sheepishly. "I don't think I've ever looked up anything about a region before heading out to one. Have we Pikachu?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu shook his head in response.

'… _I should have expected that: don't know why I didn't. I forgot how bone-headed you can be Ash. Always rushing into things.'_ Gary mentally sighed.

"Well, whatever. We're here anyway. And let's get moving!" Ash declared as he and Pikachu started to walk out of the airport and onto the streets.

"Hold on Ash." Gary spoke up, stopping the boy. The Pokémon researcher pulled out a map and started to look at it. "I don't want us getting lost here and start roaming the city for hours. It'll be the next day before we even get anywhere."

"Very funny. We'd get there at least by midnight." The raven-haired trainer mumbled in response. "Well, anyway, let's keep moving. What direction is Professor Sycamore's Lab?"

"This way." His rival replied as he started to walk to the left of the airport. Ash and Pikachu were quick to follow him. "It's convenient you and your friend agreed to meet up at the lab. That's where I was going to head to as well."

"Yeah, I figured you would." Ash chuckled in response. "What are you going to do after we get there?"

"I don't know exactly." Gary answered with a shrug. "I want to talk to the professor about his research and figure out what I can do to help out. Once he lets me know, I'll probably get straight to work with him."

"I see." Ash nodded in understanding.

The two trainers continued to talk to each other about their plans in Kalos as they walked in the direction of Professor Sycamore's laboratory.

'_Wonder if Serena is already there…'_ Ash thought to himself. He knew the two were supposed to meet there, but he didn't know exactly when she would be arriving herself. _'… Hopefully she'll get there around the same time as me! I'm looking forward to seeing her again!'_

Eventually, the two trainers reached the laboratory. Ash grinned at the sight of the building before he turned to face his friend and rival.

"Didn't take us that long to reach here." He commented.

"Yeah, because I actually pulled out a map. If we just followed your sense of direction, it would have taken us at least an hour or two to get here." Gary snickered in response.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu started to laugh at his comment. The Pokémon's laughter caused Gary's snickering to turn into full blown laughter as well.

"Oh ha ha ha. Very funny." Ash grumbled in response, doing his best to ignore both of them.

After Gary and Pikachu finally stopped laughing, Ash opened the door to the laboratory. They were immediately greeted by Professor Sycamore, who had just walked into the room drinking a cup of coffee. He looked at Ash, Pikachu, and Gary in surprise for a few seconds before he placed the cup down on a nearby table and smiled at them.

"You must be Ash. Professor Oak told me you'd be traveling with a Pikachu." The man commented with a light laugh. "I was expecting you'd arrive soon. My name's Augustine Sycamore. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you Professor Sycamore!" Ash greeted. "Professor Oak told me a lot of things about you!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu greeted as well from Ash's shoulder.

"All good things, I hope." The Pokémon Professor chuckled in response. He then turned his attention to Gary. "And you must be his grandson, Gary. He and Professor Rowan told me you'd be coming as well and would like to help out with my research of mega evolution."

"Yes sir." Gary replied quickly. He then extended his hand to the Pokémon Professor. "It's an honor to meet you."

"My, you're really polite. The honor is all mine!" Sycamore laughed good-naturedly as he shook Gary's hand. "I have many things I'd like to talk to you both about. Why don't you follow me a little bit further into my lab?" He then turned his attention to Ash. "I received all of your Pokémon from Professor Oak a little earlier ago, but I'd like you to make sure that all the Pokémon are accounted for."

"Yeah, that's no problem at all." Ash replied, excited to see all of his Pokémon again.

The professor started to walk off with the two trainers following him. They, along with Pikachu, were looking throughout the building and studying the architecture as well as the different machines that they could find.

After asking some brief questions about Professor Sycamore's other research, Ash decided to ask him about something entirely different.

"Hey Professor, did a girl our age come by today by chance?" Ash asked. "I have a friend who said she was going to come by and pick up a Pokémon from here today."

"You mean Serena, right?" Sycamore questioned. When Ash nodded his head, the professor smirked in response. "She came by a few hours ago and picked up her Fennekin. She mentioned that you'd be coming and that she would meet up with you."

"Really?" Ash grinned in response. "Where did she end up going?"

The Pokémon Professor resisted the urge to laugh as he, along with Ash, Pikachu, and Gary, entered the room with Ash's old Pokémon. "Right in here."

The two Pokémon trainers were brought into a room that looked like a nature preserve, filled with trees, small caves, and a large lake. Scattered all throughout the area were a variety of Pokémon. Some of them were even Pokémon native to Kalos and Unova: Pokémon Ash had never seen before. In addition to these Pokémon, he saw many of the ones that he had managed to catch. He noticed his Swellow and Staraptor flying in the room the top branches of a tree. He noticed his Totodile and his Corphish swimming in the lake. He would have noticed even more of his Pokémon had it not been for the girl he had now seen standing in the center of the room.

She had honey-like brown hair and had a pink hat over it. The girl was wearing a black blouse and a red skirt with black stockings underneath. She was also wearing a pink backpack. The girl hadn't noticed his arrival yet and was currently playing with her own Pokémon: a Fennekin.

If she had not sent him an e-mail and Ash had just seen her in person, he doubted he would have recognized her. She looked so much different than how he remembered her from the summer camp. However, now that his memory was jogged, he was able to see similarities between the girl in front of him and the girl he was friends with eight years ago. He knew exactly who she was and he couldn't help smile at the sight of her.

"Hey Serena!" He called out to her.

The girl froze at the sound of his voice. She turned her head towards him and looked at him with wide eyes. Finally, she started to smile brightly at the boy and traces of a small blush developed on her cheeks.

"Hey Ash!" She greeted him excitedly as she started to rush over towards him.

* * *

**Quick Trivia:**

1: Ash's comment about Professor Oak forgetting Gary's name was meant to be a reference to the numerous jokes about Professor Oak being forgetful. I was intending on also putting in a joke where Ash questions if Professor Oak knows the difference between a boy and a girl, but I decided to scrap it because I couldn't really think of a way where it wouldn't sound forced.

2: Yes, Meyer is currently the gym leader. There is no canonical proof for this, but it's just an idea I had and decided to run with it. It would explain why Meyer was so willing to send Clemont to an academy to study electric type Pokémon. Also keep in my mind that, like the title says, that my story is one year prior to the canon XY series. Therefore, Clemont is still being trained to become a gym leader. Just a little explanation to that whole scene.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hi everybody! Here's the second chapter. :)

Not even going to lie, I was stunned by all the support my story received so quickly. I was so surprised that I felt a lot of motivation to continue writing and, well, this chapter was the result. Thank you all so much for all of the early support. It all means a lot to me and I really appreciated all the things you had to say! :)

A few of you sent me in questions in your reviews and I intend on replying to them right after this chapter is posted. You all are free to message or send me questions about the story whenever you have them.

Again, thank you all so much for all the early support you've all given the story! I hope that my story continues to please you all as we get further along with it and more of plans are able to happen. :) that's all I really had to say at the moment. Make sure to review or message me any thoughts and critiques about the story and what you like/dislike. It can only help make the story better and help me become a better writer. I'll begin working on chapter three immediately! Until then :)


	3. Old and New Friends

**Disclaimer: If I own a copy of at least one Pokémon game of every generation, does that count as me owning the rights to Pokémon? ... No? It doesn't. Well then... I guess I don't own the rights to Pokémon. Sadface. :(**

* * *

"_Hey Ash!"_ _Serena greeted him excitedly as she started to rush over to him._

The girl from Vaniville Town, despite knowing that he was going to be coming here at some point today, could still hardly believe that Ash was here. Her childhood best friend, the boy she had been separated from for years since her move to Kalos, was finally here again. She could finally make up for lost time and continue with their friendship from where they had last off. That thought excited her and made her hurry over to him to greet him with a hug.

Unfortunately, her calling out Ash's name and him speaking a little bit earlier ago alerted the Pokémon in the room of his presence. All of Ash's old Pokémon recognized the trainer immediately. A few of them then hurried out to go meet him. Two Pokémon in particular managed to rush past Serena and get to Ash first.

"Bayyyy!"

"Muuuk!"

"Ooh!" The trainer from Pallet Town's eyes widened as he felt himself get knocked over.

Ash was quickly forced to the ground as his Bayleef tackled him, knocking Pikachu off of Ash's shoulder. The leaf Pokémon nuzzled her head against her trainer affectionately, excited to see him. Right behind her was Muk, who smothered Ash's body. The sludge Pokémon gave its trainer a wide grin, equally as happy as Bayleef to see him.

"Heh, it's great to see you two." Ash chuckled at the sight of Bayleef and Muk. Despite the fact that he had seen them recently during his break before coming over to Kalos, he knew just how affectionate and outgoing both of these two Pokémon were. He wouldn't have it any other way, though.

"Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered as he greeted both Bayleef and Muk.

A few of Ash's other Pokémon ran up to greet him and Pikachu. The Pokémon trainer laughed and greeted them all happily. Serena, along with Professor Sycamore and Gary, watched the trainer interact with his Pokémon with smiles on their faces.

"You would think based on how they're reacting that they hadn't seen Ash in years. I know he visited them when he was in Pallet Town. They're just a real affectionate bunch, it seems." Professor Sycamore chuckled at the sight.

"It says a lot about him. His Pokémon love him so much." Serena commented, watching her friend be around his Pokémon. She knew that she wanted to talk to him again badly, but she didn't want to be an intrusion to his time with his Pokémon. She waited for years already to see him and somehow managed to wait the two weeks after Ash agreed to come to Kalos. She could wait a few more minutes. As she was waiting, her eyes wandered over to her Fennekin, who was watching Ash and the other Pokémon with an amused expression on her face. _'I wonder if I'll have a relationship with Fennekin like the ones you have with your Pokémon, Ash.'_

"That's Ash for ya. If there's one thing you can say about him, it's that he gets along with Pokémon really well." Gary commented with a chuckle. He then turned his attention to Serena for a few seconds. "So I take it you're the friend that he's been talking about meeting?"

Serena faced Gary and nodded. She gave him a smile and extended her hand out to him to greet the person that had traveled with Ash. "Yeah. My name is Serena. It's really nice to meet you."

"Likewise. The name's Gary." The Pokémon researcher replied. Serena's eyes widened at the name and was about to ask him something, but the boy continued to speak first. "Gotta say, though, you picked kinda a bad place to meet up with him. You're going to have to fight with his Pokémon for his attention."

"That was my fault. I was just introducing Serena to some of his Pokémon that Professor Oak sent to me and we lost track of time." Sycamore spoke, apologizing to Serena for potentially messing up her meeting with Ash.

"Don't apologize about anything, Professor." She replied with a slight giggle. She didn't mind Ash spending time with some of his Pokémon first. It was actually really nice for her to see somebody so loved by his Pokémon.

The three humans waited a little bit longer before Ash and Pikachu finally pulled themselves up from the ground and greeted all of the other Pokémon that came to see him. Once they had finished, Ash walked in their direction, facing Serena.

"I'm sorry about that." He apologized to her, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't be. I really like the relationship you and your Pokémon share." She replied, giving him a smile.

Ash smiled back in response. The two childhood friends then started to stare at each other as a slightly awkward silence developed between them. They had been communicating loosely through e-mail these past few days, but they never talked too much about each other. They wanted to wait until they met up in person to really catch up. Now that they were in person, however, they were both a little uncertain about where to start their conversation.

Professor Sycamore and Gary seemed to notice the awkwardness and assumed that their presence wasn't helping them start their conversation. Both came to the same conclusion: both Ash and Serena should probably catch up in privacy.

"Hey, do you two mind if you return back to the entrance to my lab and have a seat there while you talk? I need to show Gary a few things and talk to him alone for a little bit." Professor Sycamore requested.

Serena and Ash turned their attention to the Pokémon Professor and nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, we'll be out there if you need us." Ash spoke up for them.

With those words, both Ash and Serena left the room and headed out towards the entrance to talk. Pikachu and Fennekin followed closely behind their respective trainers. Once they were gone, Gary and Professor Sycamore turned to face each other.

"They seem tense." The professor commented with a shrug.

"It's just they haven't seen each other in a while and they're trying to really talk. Give them a couple of minutes and I'm sure they'll be good with each other." Gary replied. "Anyway, did ya actually want to talk to me about something Professor Sycamore, or were you just trying to shoo them away?"

"Gary, if you're going to be working with me, you can call me Augustine. No need to be so formal." Sycamore laughed in response. "And yes, I do actually have things I'd like to discuss with you."

Gary nodded in response. The Pokémon Professor and researcher then walked to another room as they prepared to discuss some of the plans on researching mega evolution.

* * *

Ash and Serena returned to the entrance of the lab relatively quickly and sat down in two chairs that were right by the door. Once they sat down, their Pokémon partners proceeded to jump onto their laps. It was then that Ash truly noticed the fox Pokémon that was following Serena around.

"So, I take it that's the Pokémon you chose, huh?" Ash questioned as he smiled at the Fennekin.

"Yup. Meet Fennekin!" Serena said proudly as she rubbed the fox Pokémon's back affectionately.

"Kin. Fennekin!" Fennekin greeted Ash.

"It's nice to meet you Fennekin." Ash told the Pokémon. He then looked down and pointed towards the electric mouse sitting in his lap. "And this is my first Pokémon and partner, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu waved to Serena and Fennekin.

"He's been looking forward to meeting you for a while now." He informed him. Pikachu nodded his head, confirming his trainer's words.

"Hello Pikachu!" Serena greeted the electric-type Pokémon. "I've been excited to meet you as well. You are such a cute Pokémon!"

"P-Pika." Pikachu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Serena recognized the act as something Ash had done a little bit ago when he was apologizing about being distracted by his Pokémon. It was also something she noticed he had done when she had lived in Pallet Town with him. Seeing the Pokémon act just like his trainer caused the girl to start giggling.

"_You're still the same Ash I knew. A little older and different, but still the same Ash."_ She mumbled quietly to herself, a faint blush developing on her cheeks. She immediately tried to repress it as she looked at her childhood friend with a smile on her face. "Pikachu does the same you do when you're embarrassed: you both rub the back of your heads. He seems a lot like you, Ash."

"Huh?" "Pika?" The trainer and Pokémon briefly looked at each other in confusion, as if they never even realized that. A second passed before they both started to laugh as they realized Serena was correct. Ash turned his attention back to Serena with a smile on his face as he patted Pikachu's head gently.

"I think we'd be kinda similar." He said, still laughing slightly. "We're best friends, after all. I don't think there's a single thing I've done in the past few years that I've done without Pikachu. Isn't that right buddy? We do everything together, don't we?"

"Chu…" Pikachu sighed in response. Although he agreed with what his trainer was saying, he was enjoying the patting a little too much and couldn't really reply properly.

Serena giggled at both Ash and his Pikachu. The slight awkward silence that had developed a little bit ago seemed to vanish. Now, Serena felt a lot more confident talking to Ash again and she had many things she wanted to talk to him about.

"I'm glad the two of you are so close." She told them both. "What kind of 'adventures' have you done so far? What have you been up to these past few years? Other than compete in the Lily of the Valley Conference in Sinnoh, of course."

Ash and Pikachu were both eager and quick to inform Serena about some of the things they have been able to do since Ash became a Pokémon trainer six years ago. They talked about traveling throughout Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh and competing in the various Pokémon League conferences. Ash mentioned his placements in all of the tournaments so far and how he had managed to conquer the Orange League and the Battle Frontier. Serena's eyes were wide with each passing story and accomplishment. Despite being no older than she was, Serena knew Ash was still young by most standards. The fact that he had managed to accomplish so much at his age was impressive and spoke volumes of his ability as a Pokémon trainer. The girl was extremely impressed with her childhood friend and really had to try hard to resist blushing.

"It sounds like this year may be your year, right Ash?" Serena asked cheerfully after he finished talking about the Lily of the Valley Conference.

"That's the plan!" Ash declared, tightening his fists slightly. "And I feel really confident this time. We're going to do everything we can and win the Kalos League! Don't you think so Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu declared with as much passion as his trainer.

Serena, again, noticed Ash and Pikachu acting similarly to each other. Their dynamic and energy made her feel very happy and caused her smile to grow even wider.

"I know you guys can do it. You've accomplished so much already and you're only going to do more." She told him. "You really have done so much in such a short time Ash."

"Heh, thanks." Ash grinned in response. "But yeah, that's mostly everything about me. What have you been up to? How's Kalos been?"

Serena's smile faded slightly as the topic switched to her. While she had no gripes about the Kalos region or her life in general, she felt as if she hadn't accomplished much. She felt as if she was living a very monotonous life. This idea was only strengthened after hearing Ash had been doing since he became a trainer. What had she done in the past few years that could rival anything he's done?

"Kalos is nice. It's a really beautiful place. But other than the region, there's nothing really too exciting to say." She admitted with a sigh. "I've really been doing much these past eight years other than just practicing Rhyhorn Racing with my mom."

"Oh? How's that? That sounds pretty exciting if you ask me!" Her childhood friend declared.

"I'm sure it is to most people. My Mom's awesome at it and she makes it look so cool and easy, but… I don't know." Serena sighed. "It doesn't really seem like something I want to do. But then again, I really don't know what to do so far."

Ash and Pikachu noticed how Serena's mood seemed to fallen at the topic of her future. They both frowned slightly in response. Pikachu jumped from his trainer's lap and onto Serena's. She looked at the electric mouse in surprise. The Pokémon then smiled at the girl and tapped her lightly on her head.

"Pika. Pikachu pi pika!" He told her confidently.

"He's right, you know?" Ash spoke up, his frown turning back into a smile. "You just started your Pokémon adventure. You'll have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. So don't worry about something like that. You'll find out before too long. For now, just enjoy life and everything."

Serena remained quiet for a few seconds, processing Ash's advice. She then started to laugh a little bit and smile again at the boy.

"You know, you always have some good advice to tell me when I'm down." She told him happily as she recalled how they first met. "I'm so glad to have you here Ash. I missed you."

"I'm glad to be here in Kalos with you." Ash told her. "You're still up for traveling together and making up for the lost time, right?"

_Traveling._ It was a topic the two of them had discussed a few times in their e-mails. Serena was a little hesitant at first to go on an adventure when she herself had no clue exactly what she was going to do on an adventure. Slowly, the idea began to really appeal to her: especially the idea of simply being around Ash for a long time. Now, being offered in person by Ash, she knew exactly how she felt about the idea.

"Of course I am! How could I possibly say no?" She answered, giving him a slight wink.

"Heh." Ash grinned at her as he held out his hand towards her. "We're going to have an awesome time!"

Serena was quick – almost too quick – to shake his hand back. "I know we are!"

"You two seem pretty chummy now, don't you?"

Both Serena and Ash turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Gary and Professor Sycamore entered the room. Gary was seen stuffing a laptop into his backpack while he and the professor walked towards them.

"Did you guys finish your talk?" Ash asked curiously. "Know what you're going to do, Gary?"

"Mhmm." The Pokémon researcher replied simply.

'_Gary.'_ Serena remembered exactly who this other boy was. Gary Oak – the grandson of Professor Oak and Ash's number one rival. She couldn't recall actually meeting him when she actually lived in Pallet Town, but she did remember all of the stories Ash told her about him while at the summer camp. She remembered him as being arrogant and rude to Ash about pretty much anything. Seeing him and Ash travel together to Kalos and them interacting pleasantly showed her how much things have changed since she left. _'Either Ash was wrong about him when he told me those stories, or Gary has changed.'_

"I was asking Gary if he was willing to do some field research for me. I have enough researchers working alongside me trying to uncover the secrets of mega evolution, but I don't have nearly enough people out in the field finding out evidence." Sycamore explained his and Gary's plans. "It also helps that Gary brought along his Blastoise, one of the few Pokémon I have confirmed to have a mega evolution. Perhaps in the field he could find something that could help his own Pokémon mega evolve."

"What do you mean by 'field research'?" Ash questioned with a blank stare.

"Basically, I'm going to travel around Kalos and try and figure out secrets myself. Do some research on anything I can find and send any info I obtain to the lab here for the researchers here to work with." The Pokémon researcher explained.

"So you're going to be traveling Gary?" The black-haired trainer questioned. A grin developed on his face as he looked as his old rival. "Then why don't you travel with us? Maybe we could help out with your research."

Gary didn't say anything at first. He knew the second that he mentioned that he was going to travel Kalos that Ash would invite him to travel with him. Professor Sycamore actually mentioned the idea to him as well and seemed to encourage it as well. The Pokémon researcher didn't have any real complaints about traveling with Ash. However, that didn't mean he couldn't screw around with Ash before agreeing to anything!

"I don't know Ashy-boy. You might be a bit of a distraction to me." He teased. "I'm going to be busy trying to get any research done. I can't have someone bothering me every five seconds."

"I wouldn't bother you! Heck, maybe I could help with the research? I'm bound to have a Pokémon that could maybe mega evolve!" Ash replied stubbornly.

"Yeah, I guess. But hey, you're traveling with Serena? Did you ever think to ask her if she'd be okay with me traveling with you guys?" Gary questioned.

"Oh!" Ash's eyes widened. He had gotten so excited that he never even considered to ask her about her opinion. He then turned his head and looked at her sheepishly. "Heh… Sorry about that."

Serena shook her head, giggling slightly. "I don't mind Ash. Gary can come with us."

Truth be told, she did _kinda_ prefer the idea of traveling alone with Ash, but she wouldn't mind company and potentially making more friends. Besides, Gary was somebody she was familiar with by name and she was actually curious about how his relationship with Ash had changed since she left Pallet Town.

"Well, I guess if she's cool with it and you're cool with it…" The Pokémon researcher mumbled slightly before he flashed a grin at both of them. "Guess I'll be tagging along with you guys."

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered, excited to have Gary coming along.

"Alright! This is going to be so awesome!" Ash cheered with his Pokémon.

"Hehehe." Serena giggled after seeing Ash's reaction.

"Fenn?" Fennekin looked up to her trainer in confusion, trying to figure out what was so funny.

"I think this adventure of ours is going to be a fun one." Serena told her partner. The fox Pokémon nodded in agreement, feeling the same.

The conversation in the room stopped as the door to the laboratory opened up and two people entered the room. The first one was a blonde-haired boy with glasses wearing a blue jumpsuit and wearing a weird technological backpack. The second was a blonde-haired young girl with a brown t-shirt, a white skirt and black leggings underneath it. She had a black bow on her shirt, a gold clip in her hair, and was wearing a yellow purse. The two had similar facial features and appeared to be related in some way.

"Ah Clemont, Bonnie: what can I do for you two?" Professor Sycamore greeted the two newcomers.

"Sorry to bother you professor." Clemont apologized as he noticed the other people in the room. The boy felt a little nervous to be in the room, feeling as if he was interrupting something. "But, well, can we-"

"Our Dad wanted to ask if you received the extra thunderstone you said were getting and if you did, if he could use it. We have the money for it!" Bonnie spoke up, interrupting her brother. She then pulled out some money from the purse she was holding and held it out to the professor.

"Heh, no worries about paying me, Bonnie. Your father and I go back and he doesn't owe me anything after all the help he's done for me. I'll go get the thunderstone." Professor Sycamore informed the two blondes. He started to walk off when he stopped and turned his attention to Ash. "By the way Ash, Gary mentioned that you would be interested in helping me research mega evolution. Are you actually interested?"

"Me? Uh… If I can actually help out, then I'd like to, yeah." Ash answered.

"Okay." The professor chuckled in response. "Do you care if I borrow your pokédex for a little bit? I'll give it right back as soon as I get their thunderstone."

"Okay." Ash nodded in understanding as he pulled out his pokédex.

The professor proceeded to take Ash's pokédex. He bowed towards everyone in the room before he walked out. Clemont, now that the professor was gone, started to look around at the other people in the room before bowing slightly.

"Sorry to have interrupted anything." He told them.

"You weren't interrupting anything. Don't worry about it." Ash told him with a smile. He then pointed to himself. "I'm Ash, and these are my friends Serena and Gary."

"Nice to meet you two!" Serena greeted them politely.

"Hey." Gary stated, waving to both Clemont and Bonnie.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted, introducing himself.

"Oh, and this is my partner, Pikachu." Ash pointed towards his Pokémon.

"And this is my partner, Fennekin!" Serena introduced her Pokémon. The fox proceeded to smile and yip slightly in greeting.

"Wow, they're so cute!" Bonnie squealed at the sight of the two Pokémon. She then rushed over to Pikachu and started to hug it tightly. "Especially the Pikachu! I love electric types. This Pikachu has to be the cutest one I've ever seen in my life!"

"Pika…" Pikachu mumbled, trying to get away from Bonnie. The girl wasn't letting go of her grip, causing him to become irritated. His cheeks started to spark slightly.

Ash noticed Pikachu's irritation and stepped a little closer to Bonnie.

"Uh, you should probably let go of Pikachu before-"

"PIKACHU!"

Pikachu immediately used his thundershock attack, releasing the electricity from its cheeks. The electricity shocked both Bonnie and Ash, who had been close to the duo to get it. Both of them shouted in surprise until Pikachu finally stopped his attack. When he did, both Bonnie and Ash fell down to the ground, which freed the electric mouse.

"Bonnie!" Clemont rushed to his sister.

"Ash, are you okay?" Serena hurried over to her childhood friend and held out her hand to him.

To her surprise, Ash seemed to be completely okay. He actually started to laugh as he took her hand and got up with her help. He looked back-and-forth between Bonnie and Pikachu before speaking.

"-before that happens." He finished his original sentence.

"That was so cool! That was a powerful thundershock!" Bonnie exclaimed excitedly as she got up from her spot on the ground. Like Ash, she seemed completely okay. It seemed as if the two of them were used to getting 'shocked' of some sorts.

"Bonnie, you should apologize to Pikachu." Clemont informed his sister.

The young girl was about to retort until she remembered that Pikachu sounded irritated when she was hugging it. Realizing that she was probably bothering it, she knelt down to the ground to face Pikachu.

"Sorry about that Pikachu. I didn't mean to upset you." She mumbled her apology.

Pikachu, realizing that she didn't mean any harm to him, quickly forgave her. He rushed over to and nudged her gently on the knee. Bonnie, realizing that Pikachu was okay with her, started to pet him gently, which caused the Pikachu to sigh in content. A grin developed on the girl's face as she continued to play with Pikachu.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you all. That's my little sister Bonnie and my name's Clemont." Clemont spoke up again to the others in the room. "We're here running a quick errand for our dad."

"Cool, cool." Ash replied with a chuckle.

"Gotta say, you guys must be pretty familiar with electric types if she can take a thundershock and not be in anyway harmed or upset about it." Gary noted.

"We're really familiar with electric Pokémon! Our dad uses them at the Lumiose City Gym!" Bonnie explained to them, still playing around with Pikachu.

"You're dad's the gym leader?" Serena questioned in surprise. She was now looking at the two siblings in a different light.

"Uh huh. And he's training Clemont to take his place soon!" She continued.

"Bonnie! Don't bring that up with others." Clemont exclaimed to his sister.

"You're going to be Lumiose City gym leader?" Ash questioned, eyeing Clemont.

"Um, well… That's what I'm being trained for, yeah." The glasses-wearing boy said with a sigh. "But I got a long way to go before I'm ready."

"That's still really cool though." Ash informed him with a smile. "… Say, I know it's kinda late in the day, but do you think your Dad would accept a gym battle? I'm just starting up my own adventure in Kalos, so I would like to start collecting badges as fast as I can."

"… I don't think that's possible." Clemont sighed in response. "Besides the fact that Dad closed the gym already for the day, he doesn't accept any challenges from trainers who don't already have four Kalos gym badges already?"

"Really?" The black-haired boy looked at Clemont in surprise.

"It's because of Professor Sycamore's lab. My dad has kinda a reputation for being a tough gym leader, so he doesn't think it's very fair to take on trainers who just get their first Pokémon. He wants to make sure they're a little bit trained before he fights them. So that's why he set up the gym badge requirement." Clemont explained.

"So that explains why Calem went to Santalune City first." Serena mumbled to herself. She did not know about the badge requirement to fight the Lumiose City gym leader. It made her wonder exactly how tough he really was.

"… Eh, I'm actually not from Kalos. I've already competed in a couple of other Pokémon leagues. Maybe he'd make an exception for me." Ash stated with a shrug.

"You can always ask. When we leave the lab, why don't you guys come with us? We can introduce you to him and we'll see what he says." Bonnie offered.

"Sounds fine with me." Ash commented.

A few more minutes passed before Professor Sycamore returned. He was holding a pokéball and pokédex in one hand while holding a thunderstone in the other.

"Sorry for the wait. Clemont, here's the thunderstone I promised." The professor handed over the thunderstone to Clemont. The boy bowed in thanks and put the stone in his backpack along with a bunch of other items that he and Bonnie purchased while running errands. Professor Sycamore then turned his attention to Ash. "And Ash, here's your pokédex. I updated it for you, so that way it includes information about all the types of Pokémon you can find in Kalos."

"Thanks a bunch professor!" He told the man. He took the pokédex, but was then surprised as the professor urged him to take the pokéball as well. Hesitantly, he took it with him. "Uh, professor? What's in the pokéball?"

"You said you wanted to help with my mega evolution research. So, if you don't mind, I got a Pokémon from your roster that I have confirmed can mega evolve." The Pokémon Professor replied.

Ash's eyes widened in surprise. He immediately opened the pokéball, curious to see who the professor was talking about. Instantly, the Gible that was inside jumped on top of him and bit down on his head.

"Gible!" He exclaimed, happy to see his trainer.

"Heh, I forgot you had a Gible." Gary commented with a chuckle.

"It's so cute!" Bonnie exclaimed at the sight of the dragon-type Pokémon. She stopped playing with Pikachu for a moment so she could marvel at Ash's Pokémon.

"Heh. All of his Pokémon are so affectionate." Serena giggled, reminded of Ash's Bayleef and Muk that had tackled him earlier in the day.

Ash pulled the Gible off his head and looked at the Pokémon with a smile on his face. He then turned his attention back to Professor Sycamore.

"I take it that Gible can one day mega evolve?" He questioned.

"Yes. A Garchomp can mega evolve. And, judging from how strong and healthy your Gible is, I'm pretty certain that it won't be too long before it evolves all the way into a Garchomp." The professor explained.

Ash turned his attention back to Gible and gave him a smirk.

"Are you up for another adventure with us Gible?" He asked.

"Gible!" The dragon-type cheered in response.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed, excited to be going on this adventure with the dragon-type Pokémon again.

The black-haired trainer chuckled as he returned his Pokémon. Serena, realizing that they were probably going to start moving, decided it would be a good idea to return her Fennekin as well. She pulled out her pokéball and returned the fox Pokémon.

"Well, it's about time we headed back to our dad. You guys still wanted to come with us to meet him, right?" Clemont questioned.

"Yeah." Ash nodded in response before he turned to Professor Sycamore. "Thank you so much for everything today."

"Yeah, thank you." Serena thanked the man as well. She held the pokéball with Fennekin inside up to her chest. "I'll cherish my Fennekin. Thank you so much again!"

"Don't thank me too much. I'm just doing my job." Sycamore laughed in response. "You all have a good time. Feel free to stop by lab anytime you're in Lumiose City." The professor then turned his attention towards Gary. "And Gary, feel free to send me any information you obtain mega evolution. We'll contact you whenever we find out anything on our end."

"Got it. We'll keep in contact." The Pokémon researcher replied.

With those words, the group proceeded to leave the Pokémon Laboratory, waving goodbye to Professor Sycamore on the way out. Once they were outside, they began their walk in Lumiose City as the sun began to set.

"So, you mentioned that you weren't from Kalos a little bit ago Ash. Where are you from? And what Pokémon Leagues have you participated in?" Clemont questioned curiously.

Ash was more than eager to explain a little bit about himself and his adventures. He answered any questions that Clemont and Bonnie had for him. Gary and Serena also chimed in whenever they could about the group's plans for their adventure across Kalos. Bonnie and Clemont listened, completely interested in their plans and their own adventure.

'… _I kinda wish we could go on an adventure like that someday.'_ Clemont told himself, sighing a little bit.

* * *

"Dad! We're here!" Bonnie shouted loudly as the group entered Meyer's electrical appliance shop.

Meyer, who had just finished helping a customer, quickly turned his attention towards his children and the people that they brought with him. Immediately, he rushed over to his kids and enveloped them in a wide hug.

"How are you doing Bonnie? Clemont?" He questioned them excitedly.

As Bonnie and Clemont addressed their father, Ash, Serena, and Gary watched the family interact. They were all surprised with how the man reacted to seeing his children, who he had seen earlier this day. The three blinked for a second before Gary spoke up.

"He seems… emotional." He whispered to them. Both Ash and Serena nodded in response.

A few seconds passed before the family broke their group hug. Meyer then turned to look at the other three trainers in the room.

"Can I help you all? Are you three friends of my children?" He asked them curiously.

"Sure, we're friends." Ash nodded in response, much to Bonnie and Clemont's surprise. They had just met the boy and he was already calling them his friend. "I was wondering-"

Ash's words died on his tongue as he, along with Serena, Gary, and Pikachu, were brought into a group hug by Meyer.

"It's so nice to see Bonnie and Clemont have so many nice-looking friends! It's so nice to meet the three of you!" The man exclaimed happily.

'_I take it back. He's EXTREMELY emotional.'_ Gary thought to himself as he struggled to breathe in Meyer's group hug.

It took Meyer a few seconds before he released the three teenagers and Pikachu from his hug, letting them breathe. It took them a little it to readjust before they were able to face the man again. Ash, once he had recovered, decided to speak to the man.

"I heard from Clemont and Bonnie that you're the gym leader here at Lumiose City. I know you have the four gym badge limit, but I was wondering if you'd still be willing to let me battle you." He questioned the man. "It's not really my first journey and I have received badges from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. So I was wondering if that made me an exception to your 'four badge' rule."

"Sorry, but I don't make exceptions." Meyer answered with a frown. "I'm really sorry. I just don't want to make an exception for you and then have to justify it to others. I know I can, but I just don't really like to do things like that. Do you understand?"

Ash frowned slightly in response at Meyer's answer, but he understood him. He nodded his head before he got rid of his frown and smiled back at the man.

"I do. And I'll just have to come back once I get my four badges then!" He told him excitedly.

"I'm looking forward to when you do!" Meyer declared excitedly. He began looking back-and-forth between Ash and Pikachu. "I can tell a good trainer when I see one and I think you'll definitely be a good battle. And your Pikachu looks really strong and healthy. I'll definitely be looking forward to our match."

"Something to look forward to." Serena mentioned to Ash.

"I know. And I'll definitely be looking forward to it!" He nodded his head in agreement.

"They're going on a really cool adventure and everything, Dad. All around Kalos, trying to collect badges and figure out mega evolution!" Bonnie informed her father excitedly.

"Mega evolution, huh?" Meyer repeated the phrase with a neutral tone-of-voice.

"Yeah. When I'm older, I want to go on an adventure like that! Doesn't it sound so cool Clemont?" The little girl asked her brother.

"Yeah." Clemont nodded in agreement.

Meyer turned his attention towards his son. He noticed Clemont look downward slightly once Bonnie mentioned Ash's planned adventure around Kalos. He looked like how he normally does after another day of 'gym leader training'. The father was not a food and he realized that Clemont's confidence was at an all-time low since they started training. He knew it was something Clemont wanted to do, but the boy felt as if he wasn't ready and, as a result, he wasn't performing as well as he should.

'_He needs something to help him get his confidence back. Something… like an adventure.'_ The gym leader thought to himself.

"Well, if you guys wanted to, you two could go on one right now." The man offered.

Immediately, all eyes in the room turned to face Meyer. Bonnie and Clemont were staring at the man in complete shock at the suggestion. A few seconds passed before Bonnie's face developed into a grin.

"You mean it Dad? Do you?" She questioned excitedly, jumping up-and-down in place.

"Of course. It would be good for both of you." He told them with a smile.

"YAY!" She cheered loudly, clapping her hands together. "This is going to be so amazing! Maybe I can find a Pokémon that I can keep and take care of! AH!"

"B-But Dad, what about my training?" Clemont questioned. "I don't know if I can really afford to miss any of our sessions together if I want to be a capable gym leader."

Meyer shook his head in response. He then brought his hand to Clemont's shoulder and smiled at the boy. "Clemont, you're becoming a man. I don't really have much I can teach you. You are a good battler when you have you're focused and you are more intelligent than me. The only remaining things you have left to learn are things only you can figure out yourself. An adventure around Kalos can surely help you find those things." The man then moved his hand from Clemont's shoulder to his head and started rubbing his hair. "By the time you come back home, you'll be a new man. And I know you'll definitely be ready to take my place as the Lumiose City gym leader."

Clemont remained quiet for a few seconds. Tears started to roll down his eyes slightly as he gave a wide smile to his father.

"I'll do my best to learn whatever I have left to learn, Dad. You can count on that!" He told Meyer happily.

Meyer, himself, started to tear up. He was about to hug his son when Bonne spoke up, getting his attention.

"Hey, do you care if we travel with you? Your adventure sounds like a lot of fun and it's better to travel with people!" Bonnie asked Ash, Serena, and Gary.

Clemont turned around away from his father and gave his sister an upset look.

"Bonnie, you can't ask people something like that!" He lectured his little sister. "I-"

"I'm cool with it. Do you two have a problem?" Ash asked his other traveling partners, interrupting Clemont.

"Of course not. Bonnie's right: the more people to travel with, the more fun." Serena offered her opinion.

"I don't mind. I'm going to be focused on my research so I won't be the most fun person to travel with, but hey, if they're cool with that." Gary shrugged in response.

"We won't mind. Clemont's always doing research and working on things too." Bonnie informed the brown-haired boy.

"Oh? Guess we'll probably get along just fine then." The Pokémon researcher chuckled in response.

"… Are you sure it's okay?" Clemont asked Ash quietly.

"Of course. We're friends, after all." He replied, giving the boy a thumbs-up gesture.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu mimicked his trainer in attempt to show Clemont that he and his sister were welcome.

"… Heh." Clemont let a smile develop on his face. "We'll come with you guys. Thank you so much!"

Before anybody could reply, everyone was pulled into another group hug by Meyer. Somehow, his hug managed to become stronger and, therefore, made it hard for everybody to breathe.

"Clemont, Bonnie; you both have made some amazing friends! I'm so happy for you all! You're going to have the best times of your life out there. I know it!" Meyer openly sobbed. He, somehow, found the strength to tighten the hug even further.

"Can't… breathe…" Gary gasped.

"Just… get… used… to… it…" Clemont managed to mumble the words back.

* * *

Once the group hug finally ended, Meyer took the group out for a dinner at a local pizza shop in Lumiose City. Afterwards, he took them back to his house so they could stay the night before they begin their travels in the morning. Meyer had given up his bed and offered to sleep on the couch so all of Bonnie and Clemont's friends could sleep before their travels.

Gary and Clemont were sharing a room together. Gary was already on Clemont's bed asleep while Clemont was sleeping on an air mattress. Bonnie and Serena were also sharing a bedroom for the night. The little girl was wearing a pair of Tyrantrum pajamas and was asleep in her bed. Serena was going to join her in the bed when she goes to sleep, but the girl was not tired at the moment. Instead, she was with Ash and Pikachu, who were lying down on Meyer's bed.

"It's a little funny how in the span of a few hours, we picked up three traveling partners, huh?" Serena questioned her childhood friend.

"Yeah, it is." Ash chuckled in response. "I'm sure it'll be fun, though. Clemont and Bonnie seem really cool. And Gary's a nice guy nowadays. He's a lot of fun to hang out with."

"Yeah, I noticed. He's really changed from how you told me how he was when I lived in Pallet Town." Serena noted with a giggle.

"Yeah, he's changed. He used to still be kinda a jerk when we started as Pokémon Trainers, but he's really gotten a lot nicer and respectful. It might have to do with him becoming more interested in Pokémon research." Ash shrugged in response. "Then again, I've changed too I think."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded in agreement with Ash's words.

"You have, and so have I. I think everybody does: at least a little bit. If you stay the same your entire life, that's a little odd." Serena commented with a giggle.

"I guess it would be." Ash chuckled in response.

Both trainers fell into a silence. Unlike the one where they had first met each other, this one was not awkward. It was a comfortable silence as the two trainers simply relaxed, happy to have their friend with each other.

A few minutes passed by before Serena started to yawn. She proceeded to get up from her spot on Meyer's bed and gave Ash a smile.

"I guess I should be going to bed. And you should too. We got a busy day tomorrow." She informed the boy.

"I know, I know." Ash laughed in response.

Serena was about to wave goodnight to Ash and head back to her room when she stopped herself. For a moment, she reflected on her day and how happy she was to see Ash again. With this on her mind, she walked back to the bed and leaned over to Ash and gave him a warm hug. The hug took the boy by surprise, but he was quick to return it.

"Thanks for coming again Ash. I can't wait to start this adventure together." She told him with a smile.

"No, thank you for e-mailing me and giving me the idea to come up here." Ash smiled back at her.

With those words, the two friends broke their hug and headed their separate ways. Serena joined Bonnie in bed and fell asleep. Ash and Pikachu bid each other goodnight before they got under the covers of Meyer's bed and fell asleep. Serena was right, after all: tomorrow was going to be a busy day for everybody.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hi everybody! Here's chapter three! :)

To be honest, I'm surprised I wrote this chapter. I really don't have the time for this. I have an essay, an exam, and a mid-term project I need to working on. However, I really couldn't stop myself. I just started this fanfic and I wanted to get as much progress in as I can as fast as I can. So, I started writing immediately. And got this chapter done.

It's probably because of all the early support that I've been motivated to write so much. I'm honestly stunned that the story's gotten this much attention already. Thank you all so much again for reading and reviewing! It all means so much to me and just motivates me to write more :) ... even when I really don't have the time to write.

In theory, I should get back to working on school-work and should be busy until this weekend. I can probably start working on next chapter starting this weekend and then I'll get it posted as soon as I can! It may be a little earlier, but I don't know yet. We'll see! In the mean time, though, I hope you all like this chapter and the story so far. Make sure, again, to message or review and let me know what you liked and didn't like so I can improve the story and my writing. I will see you all when the next chapter is complete! Until then :)


	4. The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer: I'm too tired to debate whether I own anything or not. Just know that I do not own Pokémon... :(**

* * *

Upon waking up, Ash spent the first five minutes remaining in bed, trying to go back to sleep. Despite all of his efforts, the boy could not fall asleep. Due to some windows without curtains in Meyer's bedroom, the sun's bright light was shining in the bedroom and made it impossible for the Kanto Pokémon trainer to return to sleep. Finally, he sighed in defeat and forced himself out of bed. He took a brief look at the alarm clock by Meyer's bedside to check the time. His eyes then widened in shock and he started to wake up.

"It's ten already?" Ash mumbled to himself, shaking his head slightly. "We had all planned to be getting ready to head out about now. Dang it, I overslept!"

The Pokémon trainer rushed to a nearby bathroom and took a very fast shower. He then got changed into his usual attire and walked out of the room and walked into the kitchen of the house. Serena, Gary, Clemont, and Bonnie were all sitting at the dining table with a plate of pancakes right in front of them. Pikachu was in his own spot and was holding a can of Pokémon food prepared for electric-type Pokémon. Meyer was currently at a counter in the kitchen, making more pancakes. The man was the first to notice Ash enter the room. He turned to face him and let a smile develop on his face.

"We were wondering when you'd wake up." Meyer informed Ash with a laugh. "How many pancakes would you like for breakfast? Keep in mind that I make some pretty darn big pancakes!"

"Uh… maybe three?" Ash answered hesitantly. He then felt his stomach rumble, which caused him to shake his head and amend his answer. "Actually, I'll take four."

"Coming right up." Meyer exclaimed, laughing again. "Go take a seat with your friends!"

Ash immediately went over to follow-through with Meyer's request. He walked over to the table and took his spot right next to Pikachu. All of the attention at the table was now focused solely on Ash.

"Sleep well?" Serena asked with a bright smile. The girl had been in a rather good mood since she woke up and was in an even _better_ mood now that Ash was in the room. It reminded her that he was really in Kalos and that this wasn't some overly complicated dream. Ash really _was_ here with her!

"Mhmm. Sorry for sleeping in so long, by the way." He apologized to everybody.

Serena shook her head in response. "You just came in from a flight yesterday. Don't worry about that. We wanted you to sleep in!"

"Oh. Well, thank you guys then! I guess I kinda needed that sleep." Ash noted, smiling back to Serena. He then turned his attention towards Gary. "What time did you end up waking Gary?"

"Three hours ago. Believe me: I wanted to sleep in longer." He replied.

The Pokémon researcher turned his attention towards Clemont and mumbled something about 'inventions', 'explosions', and 'never again'. Clemont sweat-dropped slightly in response to Gary's mumbling and looked downward towards his pancakes. Ash noticed some slight tension between the two and thought to ask them about it, but he ended up shrugging and deciding against it.

"So Ash, do you have any plans for us today? Where are we going to go to first? Huh?" Bonnie questioned excitedly.

"Well, I kinda want to head out and start working on gym battles. So, I guess I'd like to go wherever the closest gym is." The Pokémon trainer replied.

"That would be in Santalune City. It's not that far away from here, actually. I think it's just a little bit longer than a day or two of walking." Clemont noted, looking back up again to face Ash.

'_That's where Calem was heading.'_ Serena recalled. She knew it had only been a day since she last saw him, but she was curious if the boy had managed to make any progress on his adventure.

"Awesome! Then that's where we'll head to first." Ash commented.

"That's cool with me. Just don't get too upset if I ask if we can stop so I can do some research on the native Pokémon in the area." Gary informed his rival.

"Yeah, that's fine. I could probably use that time to catch Pokémon maybe!" Ash exclaimed, a grin developing on his face. "I can't wait to see what types of Pokémon live here!"

"Kalos has plenty of Pokémon unique to the region." Clemont informed him. "I'm sure you'll find something that you'll want to catch."

"I know I will!" Ash nodded in agreement. He was about to continue to speak when Meyer came by with a plate of four large pancakes. The boy, instead, turned to face Meyer and took the plate with a smile on his face. "Thank you so much!"

Immediately, Ash began to devour his food at a rapid pace. All eyes were, once again, on him as everybody in the room stared at Ash in surprise while he ate. It didn't take him long to finish all four pancakes. He then sighed contently and leaned a little back in his seat.

"That should last me for a couple of hours. Thank you so much. The pancakes were delicious!" He thanked the gym leader.

"Er… No problem." Meyer replied after a few seconds.

"I still haven't finished my breakfast and he already finished. And he literally just got his food." Serena commented in surprise, blinking slightly. She liked to think she remembered her time in Pallet Town with Ash well, but she definitely did not remember his food-eating speed.

"That's Ash for ya. He's a human vacuum-cleaner when it comes to food." Gary stated with a snicker.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded his head in agreement with Gary, snickering as well.

* * *

A few minutes passed by before everybody else finished their breakfast. Once everybody was done, they picked up their backpacks and all the necessary supplies for traveling before they left the house, bidding farewell to Meyer. The group of five, plus Pikachu, proceeded to head in the direction of Santalune City. Serena was at the front of the group, leading them.

"The fastest way to get to Santalune City from here is to cut through Parterre Way. The route should be just right ahead." She informed the group.

"Awesome. Lead the way!" Ash encouraged.

Serena smiled back at Ash before she turned her attention back to the streets of the city. "We picked a really good time to come, by the way. Parterre Way is filled with gardens and at this time of the year, the flowers are in bloom. It's absolutely gorgeous this time of year!"

"Pi Pikachu." Pikachu replied back, expressing his excitement to see these flowers.

Ash walked forward a little bit more so he and Serena could talk a little bit about what else was on Parterre Way. Clemont, Bonnie, and Gary followed closely behind. Bonnie was staring at the two in particular before she started to giggle slightly.

"She's got a good sense of direction, she's really nice and talkative, and pretty. She's a keeper, isn't she big brother?" The little girl asked her brother.

"Bonnie, please: don't do this." Clemont requested sharply. He tried to come across as intimidating to the girl, but his efforts failed and only caused her to giggle.

"'Keeper?' You looking for a girlfriend or something Clemont?" Gary asked with a snicker.

"No! Not yet at least. I, uh… it's a long story." The blonde replied with a sigh.

"No it's not! You need a girlfriend to take care of and look after you. What are you going to do once I finally get my own Pokémon and go off on my own? Someone has to be there for you: someone like Serena." Bonnie informed him with a giggle. "But don't worry, I'll find somebody else. I think she may want to keep somebody else, if you know what I mean."

The little girl looked over to Ash and Serena, who were still continuing their conversation ahead of the group. She didn't know exactly what it was about their dynamic, but they seemed 'perfect' in her eyes. She knew that they would probably get together at some point, just like she knew that sometime soon, she would find her brother the perfect 'wife'.

"… Is your sister okay? She's just staring at Ash and Serena." Gary whispered to Clemont.

"I don't know if Bonnie's ever been okay." Clemont answered the Pokémon researcher's question with a sigh.

* * *

After walking through Lumiose City for a little while longer, the group finally reached the exit to the city towards route four. They went through the exit and stepped foot on Parterre Way. As Serena had described, the area was surrounded by a variety of gardens, each of which had differing colors of flowers. The rest of the path was covered with tall trees.

"This place looks as nice as you said it would Serena." Ash told the girl as he walked forward ahead of the group.

"Mhmm. It's a really nice place." Serena admitted with a smile. "A picture of the gardens here are often used on postcards for the Kalos region actually!"

"Really? I'll probably go buy one for my Mom." The Pokémon trainer from Kanto commented.

"Pikapi! Pikachu?" Pikachu asked Ash as he gestured towards the nearest garden.

"You wanna go smell the flowers, don't you?" Ash realized what his Pokémon was asking him. When the electric mouse nodded in response, the trainer chuckled to himself slightly. "Alright, alright. We'll make a quick stop before going on the way."

The trainer and his Pokémon quickly ran over towards the nearest garden, leaving the rest of his friends behind. They quickly followed behind, trying to catch up to him. Serena, Gary, and Bonnie were slightly catching up to him. Clemont, on the other hand, was lagging behind the group and was struggling to keep up with them.

"He… runs fast. Really fast." Clemont mumbled as he finally took a stop from his running to catch his breath.

"Hurry up big bro! You're going to get left behind." Bonnie commented in a sing-song fashion as she, Gary, and Serena continued their pace.

"I-I'm coming!" Clemont immediately replied and started to run at his slower pace.

Ash and Pikachu finally reached the first flower garden. The garden, in particular, was covered with red flowers. Pikachu quickly walked inside the garden and started to sniff the flower.

"Chu…" The Pokémon sighed, enjoying the smell.

"I didn't know you liked flowers so much. What do these ones smell like?" Ash questioned Pikachu.

The trainer bent over to take in the scent of the flowers a little more clearly. Just as he bent down, however, a Pokémon jumped out of hiding from within the flowers. It flew upward directly at Ash's head. The trainer was taken aback at the sudden movement and quickly fell to the ground, his hat falling off his head.

"Ahh…" He grumbled as he pulled himself off the ground.

"Are you alright Ash?" Gary asked as he, Serena, and Bonnie finally reached him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got startled by something." He replied with a shrug. He then looked around on the ground. "… Do any of you guys see my hat? I accidentally knocked it off."

"Hmm…" Bonnie walked forward and looked around the area a little more clearly. A few seconds passed by before she spotted it in the center of the flowers. "It's over there!"

Ash gave a smile to Bonnie in thanks to her help as he started to walk towards the hat to pick it up. Immediately as he was about to reach it, he was attacked by a small bird-like Pokémon. The Pokémon charged directly into his stomach, knocking him backwards slightly. Ash winced from the impact but, this time, was able to prevent himself from falling to the ground.

"What the-" He grumbled before the Pokémon revealed itself.

"Fletch!"

Flying directly in front of Ash was a Fletchling. The tiny robin Pokémon remained at eye-level with the trainer and was glaring at him.

"A Fletchling?" Serena looked at the flying-type Pokémon in surprise.

Ash, not recognizing the Pokémon, quickly pulled out his pokédex and scanned it: _Fletchling, the Tiny Robin Pokémon. Although Fletchling's chirp is quite beautiful to hear, it is relentlessly tough with those who enter its territory._

Once Ash finished using his pokédex, Clemont finally caught up with the group. The gym leader-in-training was breathing heavily from the intense running he did to reach his friends. Despite that, though, he managed to see the Fletchling and his eyes were wide in surprise.

"I thought… Fletchling didn't usually… live up here in Parterre Way." He commented between his breaths.

"They don't." Serena nodded her head in response. "I heard they're only common around route two and three and Santalune Forest. This one's kinda off in its own place."

"It happens every once in a while. Some Pokémon like to travel themselves and go to places not in their standard habitat." Gary explained, recounting his time doing research amongst Professor Rowen. "They're usually loners and get kinda aggressive around others."

"Fletchling!" Fletchling chirped angrily at the group, gesturing for them to move away.

Ash, hearing what Gary had to say and recalling his pokédex, realized that the Pokémon had chosen the red-flower garden that they had entered as her territory and considered them to be intruders. Realizing this, Ash quickly bowed his head.

"Sorry to bother you Fletchling. We were just checking out the flowers here. We'll be on our way. Just let me get my hat." He informed the bird as he started to walk forwards towards his hat.

Immediately, the trainer was pecked directly in the face. Ash, again, winced in pain and covered his face where the flying-type hit him.

"Fletchling fletch!" The Fletchling chirped.

"I think it's trying to say that the hat is in its territory, so it wants you to leave it." Bonnie commented with a frown. "That's not very nice at all Fletchling! Just let us get the hat!"

The Fletchling shook her head in response to Bonnie's comment. Ash tightened his hand into a fist as he looked towards Pikachu. Both he and the electric mouse nodded to each other before they both turned their attention towards the Fletchling. They realized that the Pokémon was definitely aggressive and that if they wanted the hat back, there was only one thing that they could do to get it. Fletchling seemed to notice their intentions and immediately flew backwards and glared at Pikachu.

"If you're not going to let us get it back easily, then we'll have to take it back." He told the tiny robin Pokémon. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, releasing bolts of lightning from his cheeks.

The Fletchling quickly flew out of the way the electric bolts, dodging the attacks. She then charged directly at Pikachu, who jumped out of the way to avoid the Pokémon's 'Tackle'. The Fletchling then turned directions quickly before charging again at Pikachu: this time at a much faster speed using its 'Quick Attack'. The flying-type rammed into Pikachu, knocking the electric mouse backwards slightly. Pikachu winced in pain before he shook off the damage and glared at the flying-type.

"It's pretty fast." Ash noted with a smirk on his face. "But you're faster. Come on Pikachu: show it you're Quick Attack!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed in response to Ash. He then charged forwards at Fletchling quickly.

Fletchling, in response to the attack, proceeded to use the same move and charge at Pikachu again with her own 'Quick Attack'. Pikachu immediately jumped over the bird before rushing up to her in an attempt to ram her. The Fletchling quickly flew out of the way, avoiding the attack all together. She then charged at Pikachu, once again. This time, though, Pikachu did not try to jump out of the way or attack back. Instead, the electric mouse turned his attention towards Ash.

The Pokémon trainer noticed the look his Pokémon was giving him and nodded at him. "Use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu quickly released a large bolt of electricity directly towards the approaching Fletchling. The electricity was close enough that it took the bird by complete surprise. She flew downward quickly, barely missing being struck by the electricity. In the process, the tiny robin Pokémon was now ground-level to Pikachu.

"Quickly Pikachu: use Volt Tackle before Fletchling gets away!" Ash exclaimed.

The electric mouse Pokémon quickly charged at Fletchling rapidly. Pikachu's body became surrounded by golden-colored electricity, which intensified his speed. Pikachu made direct contact with Fletchling before she was able to fly away.

"FLETCH!" Fletchling exclaimed.

The attack shocked the flying-type with Pikachu's powerful electricity. She rolled backwards from the 'Volt Tackle' before it remained motionless in its paralysis. The flying-type struggled to get up, but she simply could not.

Ash looked over towards the Fletchling when an idea entered his head. He may have begun the fight in an attempt to get his hat back, but he did realize that the Fletchling managed to move a lot faster than he had expected. With proper training, she could probably become a dangerous fighter. With that in mind, he quickly reached for a pokéball at his side and tossed it at the tiny robin Pokémon.

The pokéball made direct contact with Fletchling and sucked her inside in a red light. The ball landed back on the ground and the center started to glow red every few moments. A few seconds passed before the glowing stopped and the ball remained motionless on the ground. The Fletchling had been caught.

"Alright!" Ash declared with a grin as he rushed over to pick up the pokéball. "I caught a Fletchling!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed with his trainer, happy to help him catch another Pokémon. The electric mouse then rushed over to go fetch Ash's hat. He carried it over to his trainer and poked him in the leg with it. "Pika."

"Heh, thanks Pikachu." Ash told his partner as he took the hat from Pikachu and put it back on his head. He then pat his partner on the head, causing the Pokémon to sigh in response.

"That was so cool Ash!" Bonnie exclaimed as she rushed over to him. "You and Pikachu were awesome and Fletchling really didn't stand much of a chance! You managed to take it down with just one hit!"

"A powerful hit, I must say." Clemont commented. "I'm impressed your Pikachu knows how to use Volt Tackle. It's a very difficult move to pull off."

"Heh, thanks you guys." Ash replied with a smile. "Yeah, Pikachu's pretty tough to be able to use it. He's a lot stronger than most Pokémon out there."

"Pika!" Pikachu grinned in response to his trainer's praise.

"Fletchling should make a good addition to your team. Congrats on the catch, Ash." Gary told his rival.

"Yeah, you did amazing out there. Both you and Pikachu fight so well together: like a team." Serena noted with a smile.

Ash and Pikachu were both now starting to blush in embarrassment at all the praise they were getting. They both instinctively went to go rub the back of their heads: a gesture that Serena caught immediately.

"You're doing it again you two." She informed them.

Both Ash and Pikachu turned to face each other and realized that, just like Serena had said, had mimicked each other unintentionally. They both proceeded to laugh in response. Soon, the rest of their traveling partners joined in with them.

* * *

Once they had captured Fletchling and re-obtained Ash's hat, the group continued on their travel and walked down Parterre Way. They reached a large fountain around half-way through the route when Ash's stomach started to grumble. Everyone turned their attention to the trainer, who smiled sheepishly back at the group.

"Er… I guess I'm a little hungry now." He told them with a chuckle.

"Pika." Pikachu shook his head at his trainer.

"Well…" Clemont pulled up the right sleeve of his blue jumpsuit and looked at a watch. "It's about two. I guess now would probably be the time for a late lunch. I can cook something if you'd all like."

"You can cook?" Ash asked in surprise. The blonde nodded in response, causing him to grin. "You're awesome Clemont!"

"Heh… I'm not too good at it, but I'll try." Clemont responded sheepishly, accepting Ash's compliment with a smile.

"If we're going to stop and eat, let's take a break here. Maybe let our Pokémon get some fresh air?" Gary suggested to the group.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Ash nodded as he quickly reached for two pokéballs. He tossed them, causing both Gible and Fletchling to appear around him.

Serena, Gary, and Clemont all followed his example and pulled out their own pokéballs. In a few seconds, all of their Pokémon were released around them. Serena's Fennekin stood right in front of her. The fox Pokémon quickly walked over to her trainer and sat down by her legs. Standing right by Gary's side were two Pokémon: a Blastoise that towered over his trainer and an Umbreon. In front of Clemont was a Helioptile and a Magnemite that floated directly over the generator Pokémon's head.

"Whoa! Gary, you have a Blastoise?" Bonnie gasped at the sight of the Pokémon.

"Uh huh." The Pokémon researcher replied. He noticed the little girl inching closer to his starter Pokémon and gestured for her to go closer to him. "Go ahead and pet him. He can be intimidating when he wants to be, but he's a big softie for kids."

That was all the encouragement Bonnie needed. She rushed over to the Blastoise, who lied down on the ground so she could reach him. She quickly patted his head for a few seconds before rushing over to his shell and placing her hands on it.

"Your shell is tough. Like really tough! I'm sure you could probably take almost any attack thanks to it!" She declared happily.

"Blast." Blastoise nodded. The water-type was amused by the little girl.

"You're a real nice Pokémon. It's nice to meet you!" Bonnie exclaimed as she went back to petting his head. A moment later, she stopped and turned her attention to the Umbreon. "And you look like a really nice Pokémon too! It's nice to meet you Umbreon!"

While Bonnie was preoccupied with Gary's pokémon, Ash and Serena were both studying Clemont's Pokémon. Ash recognized Magnemite, but he had never seen the other Pokémon Clemont had released. He grabbed his pokédex again and scanned it: _Helioptile, the Generator Pokémon. __They make their home in deserts. They can generate their energy from basking in the sun, so eating food is not a requirement._

"Two electric types, huh?" Ash noted with a smirk. "So I take it when you take over the gym from your dad, you're going to be using electric type Pokémon just like him, huh?"

"Yeah." Clemont replied with a smile. "I still got a long way to go, but I'm making progress. My Pokémon are surely making progress at least."

"Helio!" Helioptile exclaimed as he climbed up Clemont's body and reached his shoulder. The generator Pokémon then proceeded to lick his trainer's cheek affectionately, causing him to laugh slightly in response.

"It seems Helioptile really likes you Clemont." Serena noted with a smile.

"I'd hope. He was my starter!" The electric-type trainer replied, still laughing as Helioptile continued to lick him.

Ash chuckled as he watched Clemont and Helioptile interact for a few seconds. He then turned his attention back to his own Pokémon.

"Gible, this is Fletchling. Fletchling, this is Gible. We're going to be a team, along with Pikachu, from now on, okay?" Ash spoke to his Pokémon. He was, however, looking more at his recently-caught Pokémon.

Gible nodded his head in approval with his trainer before he gave a grin to the Fletchling. Fletchling remained motionless for a few seconds before she finally nodded in acknowledgment to the dragon-type Pokémon and her trainer. She then flew towards a nearby tree and found a place to sit on one of the branches.

"Hmm… I guess Fletchling hasn't warmed up to us." Ash noted with a frown.

"Well, remember what Clemont and I said. Most Fletchling aren't from here, so I'm assuming that your Fletchling has to be some kind of loner to be willing to live out here." Serena told the trainer.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Ash smiled back at the girl.

The group proceeded to split up to do their own work while they waited for Clemont to prepare lunch. Bonnie remained with Blastoise and were joined by Gible. The two Pokémon proceeded to entertain the little girl with games. Fletchling remained on the tree and watched the other people and Pokémon interact with each other. Fennekin started up conversation between Helioptile and Magnemite while Serena watched from a distance. Gary and his Umbreon walked to a nearby garden of yellow flowers and began to look around them for Pokémon. Ash and Pikachu talked to each for a few minutes before an idea struck them. They then headed over to meet up with Gary in the flower garden.

"Hey Gary. While we wait for Clemont to finish lunch, how do you feel about a battle?" He questioned.

"A battle?" Gary immediately turned to Ash and gave him his full attention.

"Yeah, it's been a while since the two of us battled. Just a one-on-one." Ash suggested.

"Heh. It really has been a while." Gary smirked in response. "Alright Ash, I'll accept-"

"Um! Umbreon!" Umbreon yipped, getting his trainer's attention.

Gary, along with Ash and Pikachu, turned to face the Umbreon. The moonlight Pokémon was currently staring at a small white Pokémon holding onto a yellow flower. Gary's eyes widened at the sight of it.

"What type of Pokémon is that?" Ash questioned to his friend.

The Pokémon researcher gave no immediate reply, prompting Ash to pull out his pokédex and point it at the Pokémon:_ Flabébé, the Single Bloom Pokémon. Flabébé chooses a favorite flower at the beginning of its life and takes care of it from then on._

"This is one of those newly discovered fairy-types!" Gary exclaimed excitedly as he started to reach into his backpack. "I didn't expect to find one this soon since getting to Kalos!"

"Fairy-type?" Ash repeated.

"Yeah. It was a newly discovered type of Pokémon. It's becoming a big topic of research just like mega evolution has. Heck, there are some Pokémon we've known about that are starting to be identified as fairy-type!" Gary explained. The researcher had finally managed to pull out his laptop from his backpack. He quickly opened it and immediately opened up a document and started to type. "Professor Rowen asked me if I had any spare time away from mega evolution research to do some research on the native fairy-types of Kalos."

Ash blinked in response, unable to immediately respond to his rival's comments. He had actually heard of the fairy-type from Professor Oak before coming out to Kalos, so he was not as surprised to hear about it nor that it was a topic of heavy research. He was, however, surprised that Gary was so interested in.

"… So I take it you don't want to battle anymore?" Ash asked.

Gary did not hear Ash's reply and, therefore, didn't acknowledge it. He was too focused on the Flabébé. The Pokémon researcher had set the laptop down for a second and pulled out a small jar of Pokémon food designed specifically for smaller Pokémon. He pulled out a brown pellet and held it out to the Flabébé.

"Hello. I'm Gary. Are you hungry?" He asked the fairy-type Pokémon. The Flabébé nodded slightly hesitantly, causing Gary to chuckle. He then placed the pellet directly on the flower. "Take it. It's supposed to be pretty tasty."

Flabébé, realizing that Gary was not a potential threat, happily accepted the pellet and began to eat it quickly. She cooed in approval, showing that she liked the food. Gary immediately watched the Pokémon intently and started to mumble to himself about its health and condition. Ash and Pikachu watched the Pokémon researcher study the Flabébé with sweat-drops running down their heads.

"Well… Gary's more into researching Pokémon than I thought he was." Ash noted to his partner.

"Pika." Pikachu noted with a frown. The electric mouse had been eager to fight against Gary and was disappointed to see that the Pokémon researcher was now busy.

"What are you all doing over there?"

Ash and Pikachu turned their heads and noticed that Serena was walking over to them, with Fennekin right behind her.

"Gary and I were going to have a battle, but he got distracted by a Flabébé." Ash informed her with a sigh.

"Ah, I see." Serena giggle at Ash's pouting face. "Well, I'm sure you both will battle soon enough again. We got a lot of time on our journey, so you can definitely challenge him again some time."

"Yeah, I know." Ash replied. His eyes, for a moment, briefly wandered over to Serena's Fennekin. An idea entered his head as he looked at the girl and smirked at her. "Hey Serena, how about the two of us have a battle?"

"… Huh? Me?" The girl from Vaniville Town blinked in response. She looked downwards after a seconds. "I don't think that'd be a good idea. Fennekin and I just became a team yesterday. I don't think I'll be much of an opponent for you."

"I'm sure you'll be better than you think are! Besides, I could use Fletchling. I just caught her, so we could both use the battle to train our new Pokémon." Ash suggested. He then turned his attention towards the tree where Fletchling was at and shouted towards the flying-type Pokémon. "Hey Fletchling! How does a battle sound to you?"

"Fletch." Fletchling nodded her head at the suggestion before she flew off the branch and headed directly to Ash. It landed on the ground in front of him and seemed to ready to fight whenever the call was made.

Serena looked back-and-forth between the Fletchling and Ash for a few seconds before she sighed. She then turned her attention to her Fennekin.

"What do you think Fennekin? Do you want to battle?" She questioned.

"Fenn." Fennekin nodded her head. The fox Pokémon seemed a little nervous to fight, but she also seemed interested and excited to see exactly how well she could do in a battle.

"You don't have to if you don't want Serena. I just thought I'd ask. I'd be happy to have my first battle in Kalos with you and be your first battle in general." Ash told her with a smile on her face.

Serena's eyes widened slightly and a small blush developed on her cheeks. The idea of her first time battling being with Ash appealed to her more than she would like to admit. Hearing that Ash really want his first battle in Kalos to be with her as well helped make up her mind. She finally nodded and gave a smirk at Ash.

"How could I say no after all of that?" She asked teasingly. "I may be new at this, but I'll do my best and see what I can do!"

"Fenn!" Fennekin exclaimed excitedly.

Ash returned Serena's smirk with one of his own. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

* * *

Ash and Serena walked over to a small dirt battlefield that had been set-up near the fountain on Parterre Way for trainers that cross the route. Fennekin stood directly in front of Serena and looked ready to fight. Fletchling was flying in circles above the battlefield, waiting impatiently for orders from her trainer.

"Alright Serena, we'll let you make the first move." Ash offered to his friend.

"Thanks!" Serena replied with a smile as she closed her eyes in thought. The girl tried to remember all the moves the pokédex said her Fennekin knew when she had previously checked. After recalling a few of the attacks, she finally opened her eyes and focused on the Fletchling in the air.

'_Fletchling's going to be in the air for most of the fight probably, so I need to attack it with something that can reach it.'_ She thought to herself. She pointed directly at the tiny robin Pokémon before speaking aloud. "Fennekin, use Ember!"

"Kin!" Fennekin shouted as she released a small blast of fire out of her mouth and towards the Fletchling.

"Dodge it and then use Quick Attack!" Ash called out to the tiny robin Pokémon.

Fletching gave no verbal reply to her trainer while she flew out of the way of the burst of flame launched at her. She then dived down towards the ground at a rapid pace, heading directly at Fennekin. Serena's eyes widened at the sight.

"Quick, Fennekin, get out the-"

Serena didn't have enough time to finish her sentence: Fletchling managed to tackle the fox Pokémon, knocking it over to the ground. Fennekin winced in pain as she got up. She then glared directly at the tiny robin Pokémon, who was now flying around it in a circular pattern.

'_Seeing her speed when Ash's Pikachu fought didn't do it justice. Fletchling is fast!'_ Serena realized with a frown on her face. _'I… Have to hit it somehow.'_

"Fletchling, use Peck." Ash called out to the flying-type Pokémon.

Fletchling nodded and flew back down to Fennekin's height and attempted to peck the fire-type. This time, Fennekin was able to jump out of the way. The fox Pokémon jumped backwards again to put a little more distance between her and the tiny robin Pokémon, but Fletchling continued to charge it, attempting to land a hit against the fire-type.

"Fennekin, use Scratch." Serena shouted.

Fennekin, once again, jumped backwards to avoid a 'Peck' attack from the Fletchling. The fire-type then jumped forwards at the tiny robin Pokémon. She raised her paws and prepared to scratch at the bird.

"Dodge the attack, then use Peck once more!" Ash yelled.

Fletchling flew upwards slightly just as Fennekin was about to jump on her and scratch her. She then proceeded to fly directly towards the fox Pokémon and peck her on the head. Fennekin yelped in pain as she shook her head, causing the Fletchling to fly away to avoid a direct attack from the fox.

'_Fletchling is really fast has really good instincts. I'm sure once she opens up a little more and we get some more training done, we're going to make a great team!'_ Ash realized as he smiled at the flying-type Pokémon.

'_This is bad. I'm not any help to Fennekin at all.'_ Serena shook her head as she tried to think of someway to help out her partner. _'There's got to be something I can do to help. Think Serena!'_

"Fletchling, use another Quick Attack!" Ash called out to his Pokémon.

"Fletch!" Fletchling stretched out her wings a little further before she charged rapidly at Fennekin.

Serena recalled the Fletchling's speed and knew that Fennekin would probably not be able to avoid the attack on time. Just as she was starting to anticipate the attack, an idea entered her head.

'_I wonder if Fletchling can stop itself in time before something happens.'_ Serena questioned in her head before she spoke to her Pokémon. "Fennekin, quick, step out of the way and use Tail Whip!"

Fennekin nodded her head as she stepped out of the way just as Fletching was approaching her. The fox Pokémon then swung her tail towards the position she was originally in and in the direction that Fletching was charging down. Her tail made direct contact with the approaching Fletching, knocking the flying-type Pokémon backwards slightly in surprise.

'_And Tail Whip lowers defense a little bit too!'_ Serena realized as a smirk developed on her face. "Go Fennekin, use Scratch!"

"Fenn!"

Fennekin jumped towards the Fletching and scratched at the bird with her sharp claws. Fletching was sent backwards and rolled on the ground before it finally stopped.

"Fletching, are you okay?" Ash called out anxiously to his recently-caught Pokémon.

Fletching winced in pain as she slowly pulled herself off the ground. A moment passed before the tiny robin finally stood up again and puffed her body outward slightly in pride.

"Fletching!" She chirped, indicating that she was fine and was still able to fight.

"Still able to fight, huh? Well, then let's keep going. Let's try using Quick Attack once more!" Ash called out to the bird.

The tiny robin Pokémon quickly charged at Fennekin once again. Serena, recalling the success of her strategy last time, looked towards Fennekin and was prepared to try it again.

"Fennekin, get out of the way and use Tail Whip to intercept Fletching again!" Serena shouted.

"Use Double Team!" Ash yelled out immediately after Serena's call.

Just as Fennekin jumped out of the way in preparation to intercept Fletching with her tail, the Fletchling changed directions and was now flying around the fox Pokémon in circles. She was moving at such a fast speed that it appeared as if there were multiple Fletching surrounding Fennekin. All of them looked poised and ready to attack. Fennekin's eyes were wide as she turned her head to study 'all of the Fletchling around her', trying to figure out which one was the 'real' Fletchling.

'_This is really bad.'_ Serena realized. The smirk that had been on her face had quickly developed into a nervous frown. The girl studied the multiple 'Fletching clones' that were around Fennekin and realized that they were about to charge. "Fennekin, jump!"

Fennekin immediately jumped into the air. The Fletching had all charged towards the center, just barely missing the fox Pokémon. Thanks to her attack, the original Fletching was now revealed to Serena and the Fennekin.

"Use Ember!" Serena shouted.

"Use Quick Attack!" Ash called out.

Fennekin opened her mouth and prepared to unleash another small burst of fire directly towards the tiny robin Pokémon underneath it. Fletchling, however, was able to react faster and flew upward and collided against the fox Pokémon with her 'Quick Attack'. Fennekin winced in pain as she was sent flying further upward a few feet before she started to fall to the ground. Fletchling then flew out of the way to avoid the falling fire-type, causing Fennekin to hit the ground hard.

"Fennekin!" Serena gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Kin…" Fennekin mumbled in response. The Pokémon was dazed and could not stand up. It was obvious to both trainers that she was in no condition to keep battling.

"Alright!" Ash declared as he pumped his fist in the air, a grin developing on his face. "Good job Fletchling!"

"Fletch!" Fletching chirped back. The flying-type flew back towards Ash and nodded in approval at her trainer. Through their battle, the tiny robin Pokémon realized that Ash was a lot more capable than she had though, despite her capture. She realized that he would be a capable trainer and would help her become stronger.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted in excitement as he offered his hand towards the Fletching in a congratulatory manner.

The flying-type Pokémon, at first, seemed hesitant to interact with the Pokémon that had shocked and defeated her earlier. However, she finally decided to be social and acknowledge the electric mouse as her partner. She extended her wing, shaking Pikachu's hand.

As Ash, Pikachu, and Fletchling celebrated together, Serena walked over to her Fennekin as she pulled out a potion from her backpack. She got down on her knees and sprayed the potion on her Pokémon, healing her wounds.

"How are you feeling Fennekin? Does this help you feel a little better?" She asked her Pokémon nervously.

"Fenn…" Fennekin nodded her head. A few seconds later after the potion was applied, Fennekin was able to get back up and look at her smile. She had a smile on her face and licked her trainer on the cheeks, thanking her for the potion. "Fennekin!"

"Phew. Thank goodness you aren't in a lot of pain." The girl from Vaniville Town sighed in relief. She then looked down slightly. "I'm sorry about that Fennekin. I should've done a better job for you during the battle."

"Don't say that." Ash spoke up to Serena. Serena and her Fennekin turned their heads and noticed that, along with Pikachu and Fletchling, were approaching the two. "It was both yours and Fennekin's first battle. I think you guys did really good!"

"Really?" Serena asked in surprise.

"Yeah. You had good instincts and knew exactly how to work with Fennekin and even got a really good hit on Fletching. The two of you did really good for your first time, and I know you both can get even better with more training!" Ash told her with a smile. "Heck, if you guys trained hard enough, maybe you could even try to get the Kalos badges and do the Pokémon League!"

Serena's eyes widened at the compliment. She knew that Ash had participated in the different Pokémon League Conferences in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. He was very familiar with the types of trainers that reached that level of skill to enter the tournaments. Even if it was him being nice to her, the fact that he made the comparison made her feel very proud of herself and happy, causing her to develop a smile on her face.

"Uh… Serena, are you okay? You're starting to get a little red." Ash noticed.

Once again, Serena's eyes widened as she realized that she was blushing: more so than usual. She quickly shook her head.

"I'm fine!" She answered quickly with a nervous laugh. "It-It's just that battling took a little more out of me than I thought, so I'm kinda tired. I'm fine! Totally fine!"

'_Serena, it was just a small compliment! Don't turn into some kind of schoolgirl with a crush. Stop blushing!' _She scolded herself mentally. She had become aware that she was starting to blush around Ash and didn't want him to suspect anything about her feelings. While it was true that she was developing a crush for her childhood best friend, she definitely didn't want him to know about that just yet!

Ash tilted his head in confusion at her antics and nervous behavior. He opened his mouth to continue questioning her, but he was interrupted as Clemont walked by.

"Hey guys, I finished lunch. Come and get some while it's still hot!" The blonde informed the two.

At the mention of food, Ash's stomach grumbled lightly. Serena, along with Clemont, Fennekin, and Ash's Pokémon, laughed slightly at the noise, which caused Ash to smile sheepishly.

"Well, I've been hungry for a little bit." He admitted, chuckling slightly. He then started to walk off towards Clemont. "Come on guys. Let's go eat!"

Serena and the Pokémon nodded in response. They then hurried behind Ash towards Clemont and their lunch.

The group reunited with each other and proceeded to eat Clemont's prepared lunch: a bowl of stew with a variety of vegetables and meats with the broth. Once they finished, the group packed up their belongings, returned their Pokémon and headed back on Parterre Way towards Santalune City.

* * *

After lunch, traveling down Parterre Way became slightly uneventful. They spotted a few different types of Pokémon, such as Ledyba and Budew, in the different colored flower gardens, but nothing to spectacular happened on the walk through the route. As a result, the group entertained themselves through conversation.

Ash was more than willing to share some his stories about his Pokémon journeys prior to Kalos and Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont were more than willing to listen to him. The Kanto trainer proceeded to let them know of different events that happened to him, such as some of his gym battles and other crazy people that he had managed to meet. Gary listened in as well and chimed in with a few stories of his own whenever he had something relevant to say.

As conversation continued, time went by faster. Soon, the sun started to set over the area. Gary stopped walking, causing all of his traveling partners to stop as well.

"Well, guess it's going to get dark soon. We should probably set up camp here." He noted with a shrug as he set his backpack down and started to dig in it for his sleeping bag.

"Camp?" Serena repeated the phrase as a grimace developed on her face. _'… Crap! Why didn't I see this coming?'_

"You alright Serena?" Ash questioned as he pulled out his own-inflatable tent from his backpack.

"I… er… didn't really think we'd be camping out. I always thought we'd reach a Pokémon Center before nightfall." Serena admitted with a slightly nervous chuckle. "So, I didn't… well… pack a sleeping bag or tent or anything…"

"That's fine. You can use ours!" Bonnie suggested as she pointed to the inflatable tent that Clemont pulled out his backpack.

"Yeah, go ahead and use ours. I'll sleep in Ash's and you can take my spot in the tent with Bonnie." Clemont offered. He then looked over to Ash. "If, well, that's okay with you."

"No, that's totally fine." Ash nodded his head.

"Sorry to be an inconvenience to you guys." Serena frowned, realizing that she was changing the sleeping arrangements of the two siblings.

"Don't worry about it! You'll definitely make a better person to sleep with then Clemont. You and I can talk and have a lot of fun together!" Bonnie suggested. The little girl jumped up-and-down, excited about the new arrangements.

Serena watched Bonnie's jumping and couldn't help but giggle. Her frown turned into a smile as she spoke up to her. "That'll be a lot of fun!"

Once the group had set up camp, Clemont began preparations for dinner. He made nicely-cut sandwiches for the group. It took him a lot less time to make, so everyone was able to start eating quickly.

"You know, I've only had two meals so far, but you're really good at cooking Clemont." Serena praised the gym leader in-training.

"Thanks." Clemont smiled back to the girl, accepting the compliment. "It's only a small hobby, but I think I'm not too bad at it. Bonnie and my dad like my food at least."

"Yeah, but it took you awhile to reach where you're at now. I don't think I need to remind you how many times you nearly set our house on fire!" Bonnie spoke up with a giggle. "Your cooking used to be as dangerous as your inventions."

At the mention of Clemont's inventions, Gary involuntarily cringed. Clemont noticed his reaction and looked downward in embarrassment, still feeling bad about waking him up earlier that morning.

"Well, regardless how it used to be, he makes good food now and that's all that matters." Ash noted with a shrug. He gave the blonde a thumbs-up. "Really, thanks again for cooking. Glad to have you here!"

Clemont looked back up and smiled at Ash, giving him a thumbs-up as well. "Glad to be here!"

Once dinner was finished, the group continued to converse amongst each other for a little while longer. The sun was eventually replaced with the moon, showing that it was officially night-time. The group then decided to head-off to bed. They told each other goodnight before heading off to their own areas. Ash, Pikachu, and Clemont headed off to their tent while Serena and Bonnie went to their own. Gary went to his sleeping bag between the two tents. He lied down and tossed one of his pokéballs, releasing his Umbreon.

"Umbre?" Umbreon looked around the area, trying to figure out why Gary had called him out.

"No need to look like that Umbreon. We're not in a battle or doing research or anything." Gary informed the moonlight Pokémon with a chuckle. "I'm just about to go to bed. I thought you'd like to sleep outside the pokéball tonight. Look at the moon."

Umbreon looked upwards and saw that there was a full moon in the sky. The dark-type Pokémon smiled that his trainer had decided to let him come out of his pokéball and proceeded to lie down next to him on the sleeping bag. It nuzzled his head against the Pokémon researcher affectionately as he closed his eyes, embracing the moonlight that was shining down on them.

"You know, we had a good day today. We got some bits of data for the fairy-type Pokémon research. And we'll surely get more, and more for the mega evolution research too." Gary told Umbreon as he closed his eyes as well.

"Umbre…" Umbreon sighed contently, expressing his agreement with his trainer.

The researcher and his Pokémon quickly fell asleep together.

* * *

"You know, we should probably be getting to Santalune City sometime around one tomorrow." Clemont told Ash as the two of them started to lie down. Pikachu had already fallen asleep and the two trainers were now trying to do the same. "Are you excited about your match?"

"Yeah, I am." Ash nodded in response. "My journey in Kalos will officially begin tomorrow. I'm feeling really good about this year. I think… no, I know it: this year _will_ be mine!"

"You're such a confident guy Ash." Clemont commented with a chuckle. "Makes me almost jealous of you…"

"Hmm? What did you say Clemont?" Ash questioned, giving his a friend a look of confusion. The blonde had mumbled his last words and he couldn't properly hear what he said.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It was nothing important." The blonde replied quickly. "S-So, do you know anything about the Santalune gym leader?"

"Not really. But I'll find out who they are tomorrow before the match." The black-haired boy shrugged in response. "I'd like to figure out as soon as I can and maybe try and train a little bit beforehand. Fletchling could use a little more training and Gible hasn't gotten the chance to do anything since we started our journey. All of my Pokémon could benefit from a little more training."

"I understand." Clemont commented, impressed at Ash's desire to win and his plans. "Well, tomorrow, I can maybe help out with your training. Besides just some battling, I have a few inventions I've been working on that could maybe help with your training."

"You do? Really?" Ash looked over to face his friend with a smile. "That'd be awesome! I'd love to see what you've been working on. Thanks a lot!"

"Heh… Glad to be of help if I can." Clemont replied, returning Ash's smile with one of his own.

It didn't take much longer before the two trainers fell asleep. Both of them were very excited for the next day to begin and, therefore, were able to fall asleep with ease.

* * *

"You know, you and Ash had a pretty nice battle earlier today." Bonnie commented as she and Serena were lying down in their tent. The girls had changed into their pajamas; Serena was wearing a pink nightdress with matching pants while Bonnie was in her pair of Tyrantrum pajamas.

"You were watching that?" Serena questioned in surprise. She hadn't noticed the little girl near them when they began their battle.

"Uh huh. I was watching with Gible and Blastoise. You two did great!" The little girl exclaimed. "I can't wait to one day be a trainer and be able to have a battle like you two did."

"Well, that day will come soon. You'll have a Pokémon in no time." Serena informed her with a gentle smile.

"I hope so! I hope they're really cute and friendly, but also tough. I'd love to maybe go around on an adventure with them myself and collect gym badges!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"You already have a dream ready, huh?" The girl from Vaniville Town noted with an absent-minded sigh.

"Uh huh." Bonnie replied, nodding her head slightly. "What's yours Serena? Are you going to go collect gym badges too like Ash?"

"I… I don't know." Serena sighed in response. "I mean… Maybe? I just had my first Pokémon battle today and it ended up being fun in the end, but I was so nervous during the whole battle, even when it was just Ash I was against. I don't know if I'm cut out for it." The girl then looked upward to the ceiling of the tent. "I really don't know what I'm going to do, honestly."

"You'll find out something eventually." The younger girl replied with a smile.

"I hope so…" Serena continued to sigh.

Bonnie frowned at her friend. She could tell the topic was frustrating Serena and she wanted to help out in some way. As she began to wonder what she could do for the girl, an idea struck her. She then quickly got up and ran out of the tent.

"Bonnie?" Serena looked over in confusion, wondering where the girl had went.

A few seconds passed before the girl rushed back in. She was carrying a small, brown notebook that had pictures of different electric-type Pokémon on its cover. A Lanturn, a Jolteon, a Raichu, and a Heliolisk were visible and there were a few that were harder to identify due to their size.

"Sorry, I had to get this from Clemont's backpack. He was holding on to this for me." She told her friend with a smile. "Anyway, this is a notebook that I was going to use to write down things that happened on the journey. But I think maybe you could write down your own thoughts in it. Maybe if you get your thoughts written down while we travel around, you could them organized a little bit and maybe realize what your dream is!"

Immediately, her friend shook her head. "Bonnie, it's your journal. I don't think I could-"

"No, go right ahead!" Bonnie interrupted Serena before she could finish talking. "I want you to have it. Besides, I told myself I was going to use it, but I probably wouldn't. I'd forget about it some night and it would just sit in Clemont's backpack the entire time."

Bonnie, to show her point, quickly tossed the notebook towards Serena. The girl caught it immediately and began to look at the cover before she turned back to Bonnie. After a few seconds on unspoken conversation between the two girls, Serena finally sighed. She put the notebook next to her own backpack and smiled at the girl.

"It'll help me out a lot. Thank you so much Bonnie!" Serena told the girl cheerfully.

"What are friends for?" Bonnie replied with a giggle. "I want to do everything I can to help you guys! You'll have a dream in no time!"

Shortly after, the two girls told each other goodnight and proceeded to try to go to bed. Bonnie fell asleep pretty quickly. Serena took a lot longer as her mind reflected on the events of the day.

She thought to write in the notebook that Bonnie had given her, but she realized that it would be hard to write properly in the night with minimal light. She decided, therefore, to just put that aside until tomorrow and just think to herself. Soon, the girl's eyes finally started to close and she fell asleep.

'… _Bonnie's right. I'll find out what I want to do soon. Soon…'_ Were Serena's last thoughts as she drifted into her dreams.

* * *

**Quick Trivia:**

1: I really wanted Ash's first Pokémon from Kalos to be a Kalos-pokédex Pokémon, so I decided to stick with the anime-approach and let him capture a Fletchling. I originally wanted him to capture a Pokémon that would actually be found in Parterre Way, but the only one that fit the category was Flabébé, and it doesn't work with my plans for Ash. Therefore, I stuck with Fletchling. However, since this is a year early, this is not the same Fletchling. Just throwing that out there :)

2: The 'notebook' for Serena is actually a personal allusion for myself. The very base, original idea for an AmourShipping story occurred at the present time of the anime canon and Serena's 'notebook' was going to be a tool I used to write out the anime 'filler' episodes that I didn't want to re-write. I would, therefore, focus solely on the important episodes or my own original plot points while still following the canon of the anime. However, since this version of the story occurs a whole year earlier to canon events, the original plan was scrapped. I did want to include it in my story still, though, and this is my plans for it. Just thought I would explain a little bit more about Serena's journal... if any of you actually cared about it at all :P

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hi guys! Here's chapter four! :)

So yeah, as you can see, the upload-time took a little bit longer. I actually had to focus on school for a little bit. And, technically speaking, I still do. :/ That won't impact my writing speed _too_ much though I think. I'll still always be writing regardless and I promise to get at least one update up on here a week. Hopefully a little faster than that if I can, but I can't make too much promises other than once a week at the moment. I'll see what I can do guys!

So... yeah, quick question: what do you all think of my battle-scenes? They'll become a little more prevalent in the story in the later chapters (next chapter in particular), but I wanted to ask you all your opinions on them. Any comments and criticism can only help me improve and get the story better for you all! :)

Thank you all again so much for the support, reviews, and messages I've received. I don't think I've ever been as motivated as I have been to work on a fanfic than this one. You are all amazing and I want to keep writing this story to keep you all entertained.

Remember to review or message me your thoughts about the story and what you liked/disliked. I will see you all when chapter five is complete! Until then :)


	5. Santalune City: A Beginning Shot

**Disclaimer: I really don't know why I do these things. We all know that I don't own the rights to Pokémon: not to the anime, video games, manga, or any of the merchandise. I don't know. I guess I like reminding others about that fact. I guess that makes me a masochist of some sorts, because I really wish I did own the rights. :(**

* * *

"Morning Serena." Gary greeted the girl from Vaniville Town as she walked out of her tent.

Serena smiled and attempted to respond verbally, but the words died on her tongue. Instead of words, the girl ended up yawning. Gary chuckled in response before he turned his attention back to working on his laptop.

Once Serena got ready for the day and had woken up further, she scanned the campsite and looked at all of her friends. All four of them had managed to wake up before her and started their day. Gary was using his laptop and reflecting on the research he had done on the Flabébé. Bonnie and Pikachu were playing together, trying to catch each other as they ran around in circles. Ash and Clemont were standing in the same battlefield that he and Serena had been in the day before, battling each other with Gible and Magnemite respectively.

"Magnemite, use Sonic Boom!" Clemont called out to the electric-type Pokémon.

"Quick Gible, use Dig to get away." Ash shouted.

The girl from Vaniville Town blinked as she watched Gible and Magnemite battle each other. Gible avoided Magnemite's 'Sonic Boom' by going underground. He then jumped out of the ground directly beneath the magnet Pokémon and attempted to hit it with his head. Magnemite floated away just in time to avoid the attack before charging the land shark Pokémon with a 'Tackle'. Gible jumped away just in time and proceeded to attack the electric-type with his 'Rock Smash'.

'… _Heh. Clemont must be helping Ash train for his gym battle before we get to Santalune City.'_ Serena realized as she smiled.

As she thought of Ash's gym battle and his own personal dreams, she felt a desire to reflect on her own dreams and her adventure. Recalling what she and Bonnie had talked about the previous night, she went back to her tent, pulled out the notebook she had been given and a pen, and walked over to a spot next to one of the nearby gardens filled with red flowers. She took a seat on the ground and made sure she could still Ash and Clemont's battle. The girl then opened the journal. After a moment of thinking about what to write, she finally shrugged and decided to write simply about the first things that came to her mind.

"_It's only my second day, but things are already really intense. I had my first battle with Ash yesterday: something I never thought I would ever do! He and Clemont are battling right now with each other and helping Ash train for his gym battle today. We'll probably arrive in Santalune City around the time for lunch and Ash will battle the gym leader right away. We'll probably stay the night, but after that, we'll be heading out of the city. Ash is going to want to move on to the next city so he can get ready for his next gym battle."_

Serena heard a loud 'booming' noise and looked up from her journal. She noticed that Gible had landed a 'Dragon Pulse' directly at Magnemite and knocked it out. The land shark Pokémon was running around the battlefield in excitement, proud to have won his first battle in the Kalos region. Clemont returned his Magnemite with a sigh before he looked over to Ash with a smile.

"Your Gible's good Ash. You're a good trainer." He told him with a smile.

"Thanks a lot Clemont. You're pretty tough yourself. And your Magnemite's got some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve." Ash replied with a smile, returning the blonde's praise. "At the rate you're going, you'll be one of the best gym leaders Lumiose City has to offer!"

Serena smiled as she overheard the two boys talking to each other. She then turned her attention back to her journal, having another idea of what to write.

"_I'm traveling with Ash and a few other people that we've met that I think I can already call my friends. They're all really nice people, but one thing that I truly respect about them all is that they all have their own dreams. Ash wants to become a Pokémon Master and is trying to win the Kalos League Conference. Gary wants to become a Pokémon Professor one day and is working hard on his own research to help get new information on Pokémon. Clemont wants to become the Lumiose City gym leader and is doing everything he can to get himself tougher so he can be the best gym leader he can be. Even Bonnie already has her own dream! She wants to become a Pokémon trainer one day and enter the Kalos League herself: just like Ash is doing. They all know exactly what they're trying to do on this journey. And me…_

"_Bonnie told me last night that collecting my thoughts and writing them down here would help me figure out my goals. But I don't know yet. I still don't really know what I want to do. Up until now, I always just forced myself into 'Rhyhorn Racing practice' and never really thought about my plans. Now is the time where I have the freedom, but I really don't know what I want to do with it. _

"_All I can hope for, though, is that I'll figure out soon enough. At least for now, I know that I'll have my friends with me. And if there's one thing I want right now for the future, it is to have a good time with them throughout Kalos and make memories that I'll never forget! I'm just so glad to be here with Ash…"_

Serena stopped writing and blushed at her own words. She had intended on writing 'her friends' but she ended up writing only Ash's name instead. She went to go correct her mistake, but she couldn't bring herself to it. This, ultimately, resulted in her blushing more.

'_Thankfully this is my journal. No one else will read it but me.'_ She told herself.

Feeling satisfied with her writing, Serena decided to put down her journal down. She then turned her face towards the red-flower garden.

"Ledy?"

… She also noticed that she was now facing a Ledyba, who was directly in front of her face and looking at her curiously.

"Ah!" She screamed in surprise at the sight of the bug-type Pokémon.

"Ledy!" The Ledyba, who had not been expecting such a loud reaction from the human, screamed in response as well and flew backwards face-first into the flower garden.

The screaming had alerted the rest of the group. They rushed over to the garden, towards Serena.

"Are you okay Serena?" Ash asked her.

"I'm fine. I just got started." Serena answered, shaking her head in embarrassment at her scream. She then turned her head to face the bug-type Pokémon. "But what was that?"

Ledyba was attempting to hide in the red flowers which camouflaged his shell. Unfortunately for the bug-type Pokémon, the black spots on his shell revealed his location to everyone around him. As a result, it didn't take long for Serena to find him and it didn't take her long to pull out her pokédex and scan him: _Ledyba, the Five Star Pokémon. It is timid and clusters together with others. The fluid secreted by its feet indicates its location._

"A Ledyba? It looks so cute!" Bonnie exclaimed as she walked forward to go and hug the bug-type Pokémon.

Unfortunately, the steps of the little girl in the garden startled the Ledyba further. The five star Pokémon flew backwards further into the garden and tried to remain hidden from the rest of the group. His actions caused Bonnie to stop walking and frown in response.

"Don't take it personally, Bonnie. Ledyba in general are a spy species, and this one seems kinda spooked." Gary informed the blonde-haired girl.

Serena, herself, frowned at Gary's words. Although the Ledyba had actually snuck up on her and surprised her, her reaction seemed to have scared the bug-type Pokémon worse. He was shaking within the flowers and seemed to be absolutely miserable. This made her feel bad for startling the Pokémon and made her determined to help him feel better.

She put her journal away in her backpack and pulled out a small container of Pokémon food. She took out a few pellets and held them out in her hand as she inched slowly through the garden in an attempt to not startle the Ledyba further.

"Ledyba?" Serena called out to the Pokémon. She noticed him stiffen and look as if he was about to flee. "No, don't go! I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

"Led?" Ledyba finally stopped shaking in the flowers and hesitantly looked up at Serena.

"I'm sorry for scaring you a few seconds ago. We both just surprised each other. I don't want you to feel afraid or anything." Serena held out her hand with the pellets a little further. "This is for you… It's my apology for scaring you a little bit ago."

Ledyba remained motionless in the flowers for a few seconds as it studied Serena and the Pokémon food pellets in her hand. Finally deciding that the girl wasn't going to harm or try and do anything to him, the Ledyba finally floated over slowly and shyly over towards the girl. He reached for the pellets in her hand and started to eat them slowly. He realized that he enjoyed the taste and started to quickly eat the pellets, causing Serena to laugh.

"You like them, don't you? Were you hungry?" She asked the bug-type with a smile on her face.

Ledyba looked up and smiled awkwardly at the girl for a second before he returned back to eating the pellets. Serena giggled at the Pokémon's behavior.

"He's so cute!" Bonnie exclaimed once again after seeing the bug-type warm up to Serena.

"He's just a little shy." Gary noted with a light chuckle.

Clemont nodded at Gary's statement. He opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by the sound of a grumbling stomach – _his_ stomach. The entire group, even Serena and the Ledyba, turned their attention towards him. This caused him to blush slightly and look towards the ground.

"Uh… D-Does anyone else want to eat s-some breakfast?" He questioned with a stutter. He was unable to look up to the others.

"Pika pika." Pikachu stated as he walked over to Clemont and put his hand on the blonde, letting him know that he agreed with the trainer.

"Pikachu seems hungry too, and so am I. Yeah, let's eat a quick breakfast before we head out!" Ash stated with a smirk.

The group started to walk away from the garden towards the center of the camp, where Clemont would prepare a small breakfast for them and their Pokémon. Just as Serena was about to join them, she turned her attention to the Ledyba and gave him another smile.

"If you're still a little hungry, you can eat up with us. We'll have some more food you can eat!" She offered to the bug-type.

The Ledyba looked at Serena in surprise. Despite Parterre Way being a commonly traveled path, the Pokémon had not interacted with many humans before and honestly was both curious and scared of them. The bug-type had a few negative images of what a human could be like – a ruthless creature that imprisoned Pokémon to do battles for them. Serena seemed to be the antithesis of this image and seemed like a warm, friendly person. He was really curious about her and seemed to enjoy being around you. As a result, he decided to nod his head.

"Ledyba!" He proclaimed, expressing his thoughts and agreement. The five star Pokémon proceeded to fly behind Serena, looking forward to another meal.

* * *

Ash was right when he described breakfast as 'quick'. Clemont's breakfast preparations, due to his own hunger and impatience for food, was simply getting a few breakfast granola bars from his backpack and distributing them to the others. He then pulled out some specially-designed Pokémon food and distributed it amongst the Pokémon, including the wild Ledyba. The group and the Pokémon ate together for twenty minutes before everyone managed to finish their food. Once they were done, Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder as the rest of the Pokémon were returned to their pokéballs. The group then gathered all of their supplies, packed up their tents, and prepared to head on the way again.

"Ledy?" Ledyba questioned as he watched the humans finish packing all of their supplies.

"We're going to head off to Santalune City. I got a gym battle there and we need to get there early enough in the day for it." Ash told the bug-type Pokémon.

"I hope you liked the breakfast. It wasn't much, but…" Clemont smiled slightly awkward at the Ledyba.

"Ledyba!" Ledyba nodded his head, expressing his enjoyment with the good. This caused Clemont's smile to become more sincere.

"It was nice meeting you Ledyba. And sorry again for scaring you a little bit ago." Serena told the bug-type, apologizing once again.

"Bye! Take care Ledyba!" Bonnie exclaimed happily, waving goodbye to her new friend. "We'll meet again someday!"

Ledyba blinked in response. He then watched the group of humans and Pikachu walk off, heading towards Santalune City. The bug-type had really enjoyed their company, especially Serena's, and didn't want them to leave. He then realized that if he wanted to stay with them, he'd have to come with them.

For a few seconds, the bug-type did nothing but float awkwardly as he watched them start to walk off. Finally, he shook his head and flew forward towards them.

"Ledy!" He called out to them.

The group turned around to face the Ledyba. The bug-type proceeded to fly up directly in front of Serena's face and pointed to her waist.

"Ledyba? Ledy Ledyba!" The five star Pokémon requested.

"What's wrong Ledyba?" Serena asked.

"What's Ledyba trying to say?" Ash questioned. The bug-type, during their breakfast, was pretty quiet and didn't seem very expressive. Right now, however, it seemed to be extremely expressive and was trying to tell them something.

"… Heh. I think I know." Gary smirked. "Looks like Ledyba wants to come with us."

"You do?" Serena looked at the bug-type in shock.

"Ledy!" Ledyba nodded his head. He then looked directly in Serena's eyes pleadingly.

Seeing that Ledyba was being serious, Serena smiled and giggled slightly. She reached for a pokéball and held it up to the bug-type Pokémon.

"You want to join up with me?" She asked again.

"Ledy." Ledyba smiled in response as he poked the center of the pokéball.

The pokéball immediately released a red light that surrounded the bug-type Pokémon and forced it inside the ball. The pokéball didn't even bother to shake or light-up: Ledyba put up no resistance whatsoever to his 'capture'. Once he was inside, Serena looked at her pokéball, her smile developing into a grin.

"I just caught my first Pokémon…" She stated, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

"Well, I'd almost say Ledyba caught you." Gary commented with a chuckle. "Still, he seems pretty cool and I'm sure you two will get along well."

"Yeah, you two will get a lot closer!" Ash declared as he smiled to his childhood friend. "Congrats on your first catch."

Serena turned to face her crush and continued to grin as a slight blush developed on her cheeks. "Thanks Ash."

The group continued on their walk towards Santalune City, having another addition to their group and Serena's personal team.

* * *

It did not take much longer before the group finally got off Parterre Way. After about two hours of travel, the group arrived in Santalune City.

Unlike Lumiose City, Santalune City was much smaller in size. It was still big enough to be considered a 'city', with many buildings and streets visible. However, the size felt a lot more comfortable. The entire city was surrounded by a forest and many trees were located in between the buildings. The people of the city, as well, seemed a lot more relaxed than the people of Lumiose City. They were walking down the streets of the city at a much more relaxed place.

"You know, this place kinda looks like Viridian City. Just a bit though." Gary noted with a chuckle as the group started to walk through the city.

"I can see that. It looks like a nice place." Ash commented as his eyes moved throughout the city.

"Yeah, it's a nice place. A lot different than Lumiose City." Clemont noted. "It's considered more… traditional, for lack of a better word."

"Probably not as much as Vaniville Town." Serena replied with a slight giggle.

"Nothing wrong with traditional. Kinda nice to be in a relaxed place like that." Gary said with a shrug.

The group continued to walk down the streets of Santalune City, admiring the different sights. Serena was leading the way, looking at a map of the city.

"So, the gym isn't too far away from here." She announced to the group. "We can probably get there in just a few minutes."

"Do you care if we go to the Pokémon Center first, actually?" Ash asked.

"Really? I thought you'd want to head straight in for your gym battle." Gary noted as he studied his childhood rival.

"Oh, I'll be heading over there as soon as possible! But I'd kinda like to go get registered for the Pokémon League first. That's kinda important too, you know?" Ash stated with a chuckle. "Besides, I'd like Nurse Joy to maybe see my Pokémon right before the battle to make sure they're all okay. And I may need to give my Mom a call. I, er…" The trainer laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head slightly. "I haven't called her yet since we arrived in Kalos."

"Pikapi." Pikachu shook his head at his partner's 'forgetfulness' when it came to calling his mother.

"Can we meet her then?" Bonnie asked Ash.

"Sure, you guys can-"

"Oh crap!" Serena gasped, interrupting Ash's sentence. All eyes went directly to her as she looked horrified as realization dawned on her face. "I was supposed to call my Mom after I picked up my Fennekin and before I left Lumiose City and I forgot to call her!"

Clemont, Gary, and Pikachu sweat-dropped at their friend's forgetfulness, especially after Ash's own admittance to forgetting to call his mother. Ash, on the other hand, simply laughed.

"Glad to know I'm not the only who forgets to do things like that." Ash told her.

"Hehehe. You two made the same mistake. It's like you two were made for each other." Bonnie commented teasingly.

Ash didn't quite catch what the blonde had said and, therefore, had no reaction. Serena, on the other hand, heard what she said and a bright red blush developed on her face. She looked at the little girl in horror.

"Wh-What? Th-That's a little extreme to say!" She noted, hoping that Ash really didn't hear that.

"No it's not! It's just the truth-" Bonnie started to speak before she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Her brother had used a mechanical arm that was attached to his backpack to pick up the girl. "Huh?"

"Bonnie, don't talk about things like that. It's embarrassing to Serena!" Clemont scolded.

"It shouldn't be embarrassing!" Bonnie declared as she crossed her arms together over her chest and huffed. "Put me down big brother!"

Although Ash had missed what Bonnie had said, he did notice the fight between her and her brother. He also noticed the blush on Serena's face. The trainer turned to Gary and nudged him slightly in the elbow.

"Did I miss something?" He asked.

"…" Gary sighed. Ash really did have problems noticing things around him from time to time. "Don't worry about it."

"Pikachu." Pikachu brought the palms of his hands to his face, feeling similarly to Gary.

Once Clemont and Bonnie had finished their 'argument', the gym leader-in-training let the girl back down on the ground. They then continued walking, heading towards the Pokémon Center.

* * *

Upon arrival at the Pokémon Center, Ash dropped off his Pokémon, including Pikachu, with Nurse Joy. He also handed her his pokédex. She promised that the check-up would only be for an hour and she would return his Pokémon, along with his pokédex after she finished his registration for the Kalos Pokémon League.

Once they finished, the group walked over to the nearby videophones. Ash was the first one to sit down and dial his mother. A few seconds passed by before the screen displayed an image of Ash's house in Pallet Town. Delia Ketchum, along with Mr. Mime, were on the screen.

"Mime!" Mr. Mime greeted the trainer cheerfully.

"Hey Mr. Mime!" Ash greeted the psychic-type Pokémon. He then turned his attention to his mother, who did not share Mr. Mime's cheerful disposition. "Er… H-Hey Mom."

Delia continued to look irritated for a few seconds, frowning. Finally, her face softened and she shook her head as a smile developed on her face.

"One of these days Ash, you'll call me when I ask and actually check-up on me. I know you will." She noted with a chuckle.

"Sorry." Ash chuckled in response, feeling a little more relaxed. "I've just been a little excited. Kalos is already exciting!"

"I knew it would be. I was happy when you said you wanted to go there next." Delia commented with a chuckle. "So? How is everything so far? Did you meet up with your friend?"

Ash's response was to gesture for Serena to come forward. The girl nodded and walked into view of the videophone's camera.

"Hi Mrs. Ketchum. Do you remember me?" Serena asked with a smile.

"Of course I do! It's lovely to see you Serena." Delia replied happily. "How are you doing? How's your mother?"

"I'm doing great. I'm excited to begin my own adventure." She answered. "As for Mom, she's doing good as well. She's kinda settled down for a little bit, but she's still doing good with 'Rhyhorn Racing' on her mind at all times."

"Some things will never change. Your mother has always been so passionate about that." Delia chuckled. She then noticed something in the corner of her screen: something that appeared to be blonde hair. A curious look appeared on her face. "Do you have someone else with you Ash?"

Ash nodded and ushered for his other friends to come into vision.

"I'm Clemont. It's nice to meet you ma'am." Clemont introduced himself.

The gym leader-in-training was then pushed out of the way as his sister jumped in front of the camera. "And I'm Bonnie! It's nice to meet you Mrs. Ketchum!"

"It's nice to meet you Clemont and Bonnie." Delia giggled at the dynamic between the siblings.

Gary chuckled as he walked forward and stood right behind Ash. "I don't think I need to introduce myself, do I Mrs. Ketchum?"

"No, I know you well." Delia continued to giggle. "It's nice to see you again Gary. Your grandfather has been talking to me about all of the research you've done for Professor Rowen. You're really making a name for yourself."

"You as well. And thanks." Gary smiled at the mention of his research. "Don't worry: Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, and I will be watching after Ash. Nothing bad will happen to him with us here." The Pokémon researcher told her with a smirk.

"I'm still here, you know? And I can look after myself." Ash grumbled to himself, causing everyone else to grumble.

Conversation became more basic as Ash began to tell his mother about how he met up with Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, and Gary. He told her about the few days that he had been traveling in Kalos and about his plans to challenge the Santalune City gym later that day. Delia was excited to hear every detail about Ash's journey and was excited for him to begin his journey officially.

After a few minutes, Delia admitted that she had to get off the phone to do a few errands. She looked at the image of Ash on her videophone and smiled.

"Whenever you think of me, Ash, just give me a call. I'm not like how I was back when you first started your journey. I know you can take care of yourself, and you have your friends along with you." She told him. "Have fun in Kalos Ash. I love you!"

"I love you too Mom. And I promise I'll call more often as well, just to talk to you." Ash told her with a smile, feeling happy about what his mother had told him.

With those words, the call ended. Once Ash had finished his call, it was Serena's turn to dial a number on the videophone. She looked a little hesitant, but finally pressed the 'call' button. A few seconds passed by before the image of her mother, Grace Paschall, appeared on the screen.

"I was wondering when you were going to finally call me." Grace chuckled.

"S-Sorry Mom. I just kinda got excited with everything. A lot has happened already." Serena admitted with an uneasy smile, still feeling embarrassed and bad about forgetting to call her mother sooner.

"It's only been a few days and 'a lot has happened already'? Like what?" Her mother questioned.

The woman from Vaniville Town was quickly introduced to Serena's new traveling companions. Clemont, Bonnie, Gary, and Ash introduced themselves one-after-another. Grace was excited to meet Serena's new friends, and was even more excited to see Ash again.

"You've really grown up from when I last saw you Ash. You look like a young man." Grace commented with a chuckle. "We watched you on the television during the Lily of the Valley Conference."

"Thanks. And yeah, Serena told me about that." Ash noted, smiling after the compliment.

"Did Serena tell you about how excited she was to see you?" Grace questioned teasingly.

Serena's cheeks brightened again for the umpteenth time and her eyes widened.

"H-Hey Mom, would you like to see my Pokémon?" She asked quickly, eager to turn the conversation to another topic.

Without waiting for her mother to respond, Serena pulled out her two pokéballs and released her Fennekin and Ledyba. The two Pokémon appeared on the screen and looked curious at the woman on the screen.

"Mom, meet my Pokémon. Fennekin, Ledyba, meet my mother." Serena introduced her mother to her Pokémon.

"Fenn!" Fennekin greeted the woman happily, raising her paw in a 'waving' motion.

"Ledy…" Ledyba waved to the woman as well. He, however, was a lot shyer compared to the fire-type next to him, who had greeted her so confidently.

"It's nice to meet you both!" Grace informed both Pokémon. The woman looked back-and-forth between the two Pokémon and Serena. "Both of them look so nice and strong. I feel a lot more comfortable, knowing you also have some good Pokémon to travel with along with your friends."

Her comments caused Serena, along with Fennekin and Ledyba, to smile at the woman brightly.

"Well, I'm actually in the middle of something, so I kinda have to get off. But thanks for calling me. I was starting to get a little nervous about how you are doing." Grace admitted with a chuckle. "But you got some good Pokémon and your friends with you. I know you'll be safe. You take care, okay Serena?"

"I will Mom." Serena nodded her head. "I love you!"

"Love you too." Grace smiled at her daughter as they disconnected the call.

"Neither of your mothers seemed too upset about waiting for your calls. They were just nervous." Clemont noted with a chuckle.

"They were really nice!" Bonnie commented simply, happy to have met the mothers of her friends.

_Click!_

A sound managed to grab the attention of the group. Standing right by the entrance to the room was a young woman with sandy blonde hair and green eyes. She was wearing a pair of green shorts and a white shirt that showed off her midriff slightly. The woman had a camera in her hands, which was focused intently on Serena's Ledyba.

"Ledy?" Ledyba seemed to become aware of that fact and looked at the woman nervously.

"Sorry about that. I was just walking by and noticed the Ledyba out. I had to take a picture!" The woman with the camera apologized. She took a step closer and smiled. "He looks really sweet."

"Ledyba!" Ledyba quickly flew backwards and hit behind Serena.

The woman stopped walking forward for a second before she chuckled to herself at the sight.

"Seems your Ledyba's a little bit camera-shy. I'm sorry about that." The woman apologized.

"No it's fine. He's just a little nervous around others at first." Serena shook her head. She then pointed at the woman and looked at Ledyba. "She doesn't meet any harm, Ledyba. She was just taking your picture."

"Ledy." Ledyba nodded his head hesitantly. He flew a little forward towards the woman, who reached out to him and petted him on his head. Immediately, Ledyba felt himself become a lot more calm and relaxed. "Ledyba…"

"Wow, you got him to warm up to you almost as fast as Serena did!" Bonnie gasped.

"Well, I'm pretty good with bug-type Pokémon. We just understand each other." The woman with the camera replied with a giggle.

After petting the Ledyba for a few seconds, the woman finally backed away and started to walk off.

"Sorry to be a bother. I love taking pictures of Pokémon, _especially_ bug-type Pokémon. I just saw your Ledyba in my peripheral vision and knew he would take a good picture." She told them. "Hope you guys have a good day!"

With those words, the woman left the room, leaving the group alone.

"Why'd she leave? I would have liked to have properly introduced her to you Clemont." Bonnie pouted slightly.

"Ex-Excuse me?" Clemont blinked in response.

"Remember Clemont: you need a 'keeper'." Gary reminded him with a chuckle.

"He's right!" Bonnie declared. She then turned her attention to Gary as an idea entered her head. "Hey Gary, you know a lot about women, right? Can you help me find the perfect wife for my brother?"

"What?" Clemont's eyes widened at Bonnie's request. "Y-You can't-"

"Sure, I'd love to help." Gary spoke up, interrupting the inventor.

"Yay! Together, you and I will be able to find the perfect wife to take care of my brother!" Bonnie cheered happily as she held out her hand. Gary chuckled as he quickly shook it. "Together, we can't _not_ find her!"

"Bonnie… Gary…" Clemont's face was now red in embarrassment and his eyes were focused solely on the floor. Ash and Serena couldn't help but laugh at the blonde's situation, much to his chagrin.

* * *

The group remained in the Pokémon Center and talked to each other for another hour as Ash waited to hear from Nurse Joy. Finally, the hour passed by and the group was called up to the front. Standing at the front desk of the Pokémon Center was Nurse Joy. Pikachu was standing right by her side, alongside two pokéballs and a pokédex.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called out to his trainer.

"Hey Pikachu!" Ash greeted as he reached over and pulled his electric mouse into a hug. "Feeling good?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded in response.

Ash chuckled at his partner's response. He then proceeded to face Nurse Joy and took his pokéballs and his pokédex.

"Everything is fine with your Gible and Fletchling as well. They should be ready for battle." She told him, knowing that he was probably going to take on the Santalune Gym afterwards. "The registration has also been complete. You're now officially entered in the Kalos League."

"Thank you so much Nurse Joy!" Ash told her with a smile.

The Pokémon nurse smiled in response. The group turned their attention towards the door and prepared to walk out when the doors opened and another trainer entered. He was a boy who looked the same age as Ash, Serena, and Gary with black hair and had a pair of glasses covering his blue eyes. He was dressed in black dress pants and a blue jacket that he wore over a white shirt. The trainer walked forward towards Nurse Joy and set two pokéballs down on the counter.

"Can you check on my Pokémon?" He requested.

Nurse Joy nodded her head immediately and took them back to take care of them. The boy then walked over to take a seat nearby while he waited for her to finish. Ash watched the boy curiously as an idea entered his head as to why the boy needed his Pokémon to be 'checked on'.

"Hey. Did you just have a battle with the Santalune City Gym leader?" He asked.

The boy turned his head to face Ash. He nodded before he pulled out a gym badge that resembled a beetle.

"I finished the battle about an hour ago." He answered.

Ash grinned, realizing that the trainer in front of him was pretty tough to have earned the badge. "Congrats on getting the badge. What kind of trainer was the gym leader like?"

"Thanks." The boy shrugged in response. "She's pretty eccentric, but she knows how to battle well. She specializes in bug-types and her team is pretty fast."

"Bug-types?" Serena repeated the type in surprise. Hearing that and learning that the gym leader was female put an idea of who the gym leader was in her head. _'I wonder if that woman we had just met…'_

"Bug types huh? That's fine with me!" Ash declared excitedly as he pumped his fist.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed with equal excitement.

The boy with the glasses chuckled slightly, as if his excitement reminded him of somebody.

"You should probably hurry. The gym leader has plans for later today, so she'll be closing her gym earlier than normal. You'll want to get there and battle her before while you have the chance." The boy advised matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Ash's eyes widened. "Well, we gotta get going! Come on guys!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed.

Both Ash and Pikachu hurried out of the Pokémon Center before his friends could react.

"Ash, wait up! Do you even know what direction the gym is in?" Serena called out to him as she hurried behind her friend. Bonnie followed closely behind her.

"Thanks for the info." Gary told the boy with the glasses before he followed his friends.

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Clemont bowed slightly in thanks as well before he started to run behind everybody. "Guys, wait up for me! Can we not run this time? Guys?"

The boy blinked in response, once again, as the group had all left the Pokémon Center. He remained motionless for a seconds before he shook his head and chuckled at the behavior of the group, especially at the behavior of Ash.

"He reminds me of you, Hilda. Maybe a little less… thoughtful, but definitely as excitable as you." The boy commented to himself with a chuckle. "Funny. I leave the region and I still find you here with me in some way."

The boy continued to sit while he waited for Nurse Joy to finish looking after his Pokémon. While he waited, he couldn't help but be curious about the boy he had just met and whether or not he would manage to beat the Santalune City gym leader.

* * *

The Santalune City Gym was only a fifteen minute walk away from the Pokémon Center. After waiting for Serena and the rest of the group to make sure about the directions, Ash and Pikachu arrived at the entrance to the gym. The two of them looked at the front door and grinned.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu declared excitedly.

"Yeah, me too buddy. Let's get our first gym battle started!" Ash exclaimed, nodding his head.

Ash and Pikachu opened the door to the gym and entered the building along with his friends. The first room they came across was a large, open room that resembled a museum. On the white walls of the room were pictures of a variety of different bug-type Pokémon. The group all looked in amazement at the pictures and went over to study them.

"These are really well done. They look like some of the pictures from textbooks." Gary whistled in approval as he studied a picture of a Scizor. The Pokémon looked as alive as the one that he had left behind before coming to Kalos.

"They're professionally done, yeah." Clemont noted, his eyes focused on a picture of a Weedle.

'_There's no way that the gym leader isn't that woman. She has to be the gym leader!'_ Serena realized as her eyes moved from picture-to-picture.

"Do you like my photos?"

The group turned around and noticed that the same blonde-haired woman with the camera walk out of a different room. She walked towards them with a smile on her face as she reflected on her pictures.

"It's only a hobby, but I really like it. My sister tells me if I ever decide to quit my job, I could take up photography professionally for a newspaper or something." She commented in amusement.

"I knew you were the gym leader." Serena spoke proudly.

She had meant to really keep that to herself, but the gym leader seemed to hear. She looked over at Serena curiously before chuckling.

"You're the group from the Pokémon Center. Kinda funny that we had just ran into each other." The woman stated. "So I take it at least one of you wants to challenge me?"

"That'd be me!" Ash declared, getting the woman's attention. "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town. I'm just starting my adventure in the Kalos region and I'd like to try and earn my first Kalos gym badge."

"Pallet Town, huh? From Kanto? Interesting." The woman noted with a smirk. "Very well. My name's Viola, and as the Santalune City gym leader, I accept your challenge."

"Alright! Let's go!" Ash exclaimed, pumping his fist slightly.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu pumped his fist as well, mimicking his trainer.

Instinct took over Viola's body and she quickly took a picture of the duo with her camera. Both Ash and blinked after the flash and gave the woman a strange look. Viola studied the photographed image on her camera before she grinned.

"Sorry. I have a separate collection of photos that show the bond between a trainer and their Pokémon. You and your Pikachu seemed so in sync for a second, I couldn't help but take a shot. And trust me, the photo looks great. It'll fit in with the rest of the collection." She informed the boy.

"Heh, I'm glad you think so." Ash and Pikachu smiled in response to the comment. "Can I see the collection sometime?"

"Sure. But first, let's get the battle underway." Viola suggested.

"Wait! Hold on a second!" Bonnie spoke.

All eyes were brought to the little girl. Bonnie rushed over to Viola and proceeded to get on one knee – much to Clemont's horror and Gary's amusement.

"Viola, would you please marry my brother? S'il vous pla_ît?" She requested, giving the woman a pleading look. _

"… Marry? S'il vous plaît?" Viola blinked in confusion as she repeated the words the little girl had told her.

Immediately, the robotic 'Aipom' arm came out of Clemont's backpack and grabbed Bonnie. She was lifted off the ground.

"Bonnie, I've asked you not to do that a thousand times! This is so embarrassing!" Clemont exclaimed, his cheeks bright red.

"She's just trying to help you out. Cut her some slack Clemont." Gary snickered.

"This isn't helping! Not like this!" Clemont exclaimed as he started to walk off, dragging along a struggling Bonnie with him. "Don't mind us. Bonnie and I need to talk for a little bit. You two just begin your gym battle!"

Clemont (along with Bonnie) left the room for a little… sibling discussion. The rest of the people blinked in confusion at the action for a few seconds before regaining their composure. Viola gave Ash a confident smirk as she pointed towards a door: the door towards the battlefield in her gym.

"So, you said you're up to battle right away. Still good?" She asked.

"Yep. Lead the way." Ash nodded. He and Pikachu exchanged looks with each other, excited to begin.

* * *

"The gym battle between Ash, the challenger, and Viola, the Santalune gym leader, will now begin. Each side will use two Pokémon and the battle will be over when either trainers' Pokémon are unable to continue. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon." The referee of the Santalune City gym announced.

Ash and Viola grinned at each other after the referee finished his announcement. The of them were standing across from each other in the middle of the battlefield: a simple, ground arena surrounded by a garden. Serena and Gary, along with Clemont and Bonnie after they finished another round of 'discussions', were standing off to the side, waiting for the match to begin.

"This is so exciting! I don't think I've ever seen a gym battle other than Dad's." Bonnie noted as her eyes moved from Ash to Viola, eager to see the battle.

"I'm excited to see this as well." Clemont noted with a smile. He, too, was eager to see another gym leader in-battle. The blonde was paying attention very carefully, looking for any strategies or a general attitude that he would need when he took over the position from his father.

Gary looked at Ash confidently. In his peripheral vision, however, he noticed that Serena had a worried expression on her face. The Pokémon researcher turned his attention to her and gave her a curious look.

"You're not worried about Ashy-boy, are ya?" He questioned teasingly.

"Well… kinda." Serena admitted with a sigh. "Ash has been talking about the gym battle all of this time and in our e-mails. I'd hate to see it not go the way he wants it to."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Ash is more mature than he lets on. He can handle himself if he loses." Gary told her with a shrug. "But I wouldn't even worry about him losing. You'll see just what he can do with this battle."

Serena nodded hesitantly. She wanted to believe Gary's words and, deep down, she knew that Ash was capable of winning. Still, she couldn't help but be slightly nervous as she waited for Ash and Viola to begin the battle.

"Let's get this started!" Viola declared as she pulled out a pokéball and tossed it. "Come on out Surskit!"

Surskit was released from the pokéball and started to glide across the battlefield. Ash, upon seeing the bug-type Pokémon, pulled out his pokédex and scanned it: _Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon. Surskit can walk on water as if it was skating. It attracts prey with a sweet aroma it produces._

Seeing the type of Pokémon he was going against, Ash reached for a pokéball of his own. "Go Fletchling!"

"Fletch!" The flying-type exclaimed upon being released from her pokéball. She immediately flew up in the air and glared at the Surskit, ready to begin the battle.

"You're going to try and use a flying-type against me?" Viola noted with a chuckle. "Very well then. We'll see if you'll actually benefit from the type advantage."

"We'll see indeed!" Ash replied with a smirk.

Seeing that both trainers and their Pokémon were ready, the referee raised her hands into the air. "Surskit versus Fletchling… begin!"

"Let's start the battle strong! Surskit, use Bubblebeam!" Viola exclaimed.

Surskit nodded at her trainer's order and immediately released a barrage of bubbles towards the Fletchling.

"Dodge it and then use Peck." Ash called out.

Fletchling didn't have to wait for her trainer's orders: the tiny robin Pokémon proceeded to evade the bubbles before she could take any damage. She then proceeded to charge directly at the Surskit, inching her beak out further in preparation to strike.

"Surskit, use Protect!" Viola declared.

Surskit nodded and braced herself. She was surrounded by a protective aura just as Fletchling struck at her with her 'Peck' attack. Surskit was able to hold off taking any damage and proceeded to knock Fletchling back in surprise.

"Now, hurry and use Ice Beam!" Viola continued.

'_What?'_ Ash's eyes widened after hearing Viola's order. _'An ice-type move? Crap!'_

The trainer from Kanto didn't have time to order his Fletchling: Surskit released a beam of ice aimed directly for Fletchling. The flying-type quickly flew above, avoiding the attack just in time.

"Got away in time I see. Not bad." Viola noted with a smirk.

"We got more to show you if you think that's impressive, huh Fletchling?" Ash asked his flying-type.

"Fletchling!" Fletchling replied with a confident chirp.

"Use Double Team!" Ash ordered.

Fletchling nodded and proceeded to fly around in circles around Surskit at such a fast speed that she appeared to be in multiple places at once. Soon, there were many Fletchling images surrounding the bug-type, all of whom looked real and ready to strike.

'_Surskit will have a hard time moving fast enough to hit the real one. Guess I got to help her get some extra speed.'_ Viola realized as she pointed directly towards the battlefield. "Surskit, use Ice Beam on the ground!"

Surskit nodded and unleashed another beam of ice directly onto the battlefield. The ground froze over instantaneously, creating a new, icy terrain.

"Now, start moving and try attacking Fletchling with another Ice Beam!" The gym leader called out.

Immediately, Surskit started to skate across the ice at a rapid pace that matched Fletchling's. The pond skater Pokémon released another 'Ice Beam' upward at the illusions underneath her. The bug-type Pokémon was moving fast enough that it was able to strike at all of the different illusions before Fletchling could do anything. A moment passed before Fletchling was hit head on by the 'Ice Beam' before she could fly away.

"FLETCH!" The flying-type winced in pain as she started to fall to the ground.

"Now, use Signal Beam and hit her before she hits the ground." Viola called out her next planned attack.

Surskit proceeded to release a strange beam of light from its antenna. The beam flew through the air quickly and was about to make direct contact with the flying-type.

"Fletchling, fly out of the way!" Ash shouted. "Don't let Surskit beat you down; you need to be the one on the attack!"

Just as Ash finished his orders, Fletchling gathered her bearings and managed to fly underneath the beam of light. She then flew rapidly at Surskit and hit the bug-type Pokémon directly in the face with her wings, using her 'Steel Wing' attack. Surskit inched backwards in pain.

"New, Fletchling, use Peck and keep going at it!" Ash continued.

Fletching quickly charged at Surskit once again and used 'Peck' to send Surskit skating further back on the ice. The flying-type then charged once again, preparing to land one more 'Peck' on the bug-type.

Viola noticed that the flying-type was getting dangerously close to her Surskit and seemed as if she was focused solely on attacking. The blonde-haired trainer smirked as she raised her index finger and pointed it directly at the flying-type.

"Use Ice Beam, quick!" Viola called out.

"Fletchling, fly lower. Get directly against the ground!" Ash ordered almost simultaneously to Viola.

Surskit unleashed another 'Ice Beam' directly towards the flying-type Pokémon. Fletchling, however, acted on Ash's prediction and lowered her flight pattern just as the bug-type used 'Ice Beam'. The beam of Ice barely missed Fletchling and was now wide-open to a direct attack.

"Now, use Peck!" Ash exclaimed.

Fletchling continued to fly rapidly forward and collided her beak against the bug-type. Surskit was sent backwards quickly, not able to evade or defend itself after using her 'Ice Beam'. The pond skater Pokémon eventually stopped sliding on the ice and eventually fell over, dazed and exhausted.

"Surskit!" Viola shouted out to her Pokémon.

The referee noticed Surskit's condition and quickly raised her hand towards Ash. "Surskit is unable to battle. Fletchling is the victor."

"Alright! Way to go Fletchling!" Ash cheered for his flying-type Pokémon.

"Fletchling fletch." Fletchling chirped in approval as she looked over at her trainer, pleased that they had been able to work together so well in the battle.

"That was amazing!" Bonnie cheered loudly. "WAY TO GO ASH AND FLETCHLING!"

"That was really impressive work. Ash was in sync with his Fletchling and was able to help her avoid that last-second Ice Beam." Clemont praised, looking at Ash in approval.

"He's got good instincts. He can predict well once he's in the battle. Ash is a natural at battles." Gary commented about his childhood friend. "Although, he's still got a bit more to do. Remember, there's still another Pokémon for viola to use."

Serena nodded. She had remained quiet with her cheering because she was very well aware of that fact. _'Ash… You're ahead. You can do this!'_

Viola quickly returned her Surskit and wished her Pokémon well as she put the pokéball away. She then pulled out a second pokéball and tossed it. "Let's go Vivillon!"

A Vivillon with meadow-pattern wings flew in the sky immediately after being called out of her pokéball. Upon seeing the Pokémon, Ash pulled out his pokédex for a second time and scanned the bug-type: _Vivillon, the Scale Pokémon. Vivillon are skillfully able to find a source of water. It has been said that you'll find a spring if you follow a Vivillon._

"I'm impressed with how you and Fletchling fought against Surskit, but this match is far from over. Are you ready to keep going Ash?" Viola asked with a grin.

"Vivi." Vivillon smirked as she looked at Ash's Fletchling, ready to begin the fight.

"What do you say Fletchling? Still up for battling?" Ash asked his flying-type. His Fletchling gave nodded her head, causing him to grin. "Well we're ready when you are."

"The match between Vivillon and Fletchling… begin!" The referee called out.

Ash, this time, was quick to make the first move. "Fletchling, use Double Team and surround Vivillon!"

Fletchling quickly flew around in circles, creating illusions of herself as she continued to fly. Vivillon didn't bother looking at the various Fletchling copies: she only took a brief look to her trainer, who nodded in response.

"Psychic." Viola said.

Vivillon's eyes lit up with a blue light. She then looked at the Fletchling illusions intently. Almost immediately, the illusions faded as the real Fletchling stopped flying. Her eyes were narrowed as she was forced to stop flying due to a blue light that completely surrounded her.

"Toss her to the ground." Viola called out.

Instantaneously, Vivillon looked downward to the ground. The blue light that surrounded Fletchling forced the flying-type down, causing her to collide against the icy battlefield hard. The Fletchling winced in pain as she pulled herself up.

"Are you alright Fletchling?" Ash questioned his Pokémon frantically. Once he saw her nod in response, he pointed directly at Vivillon. "Be careful of its Psychic. Try and use Peck on it!"

Fletchling nodded once again and charged directly at Vivillon.

"Use Gust to make it fly away!" Viola ordered.

"Fly underneath, once again." Ash called out simultaneously to the gym leader.

Fletchling began to fly lower to avoid a 'Gust' attack from Vivillon. The flying-type proceeded to fly directly underneath Vivillon. This caused Viola to grin.

"Quick: use Sleep Powder." She suggested.

Vivillon released a cloud of sleep-inducing dust from her body directly underneath her. Fletchling, unfortunately, did not have to avoid the dust and was quickly made a victim of the attack. She fell to the ground, asleep.

"Fletchling! Wake up!" Ash called out to his flying-type, hoping that she could hear him. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to. This caused him to shake his head. "Crap…"

"Vivillon, use Gust before it wakes up!" Viola ordered.

Vivillon nodded her head and unleased another gust of wind directly at the sleeping Fletchling. The wind struck the flying-type, causing her to wake up and wince in a pain. Once the wind faded away, Fletchling fell to the ground once again. This time, however, she was simply exhausted and couldn't fight any longer instead of being asleep.

"Fletchling! Are you okay?" Ash shouted to his flying-type, a frown on his face.

"Fletch… ling…" Fletchling replied quietly.

"Fletchling is unable. Vivillon is the winner!" The referee declared.

"Good job Vivillon. Nice timing on the Sleep Powder." Viola praised her Pokémon, earning her a smile from the scale Pokémon. The photographer then turned her attention towards Ash. "So, what do you think of my Vivillon Ash?"

Ash returned his Fletchling to her pokéball and told her she did a good job. Once he finished, he turned his attention back to the gym leader. "Your Vivillon is good. I can tell she's going to be a tough Pokémon to take out." The trainer then reached for another pokéball and took it out. "Luckily, I got a tough Pokémon that I think can do the job!"

"Pika?" Pikachu looked to Ash in confusion. Seeing Ash pull out another pokéball meant that the electric mouse wouldn't be able to fight in this gym battle… much to his disappointment.

He tossed the Pokémon down to the ground, releasing his Gible. The land shark Pokémon grinned upon realizing that it was time to battle.

"Gible!" He declared, excited for a match. He took a step forward on the battlefield, but immediately slipped on the ice, causing it to wince slightly in pain after the impact. "Gib."

"Gible? Wouldn't Pikachu have been a smarter choice? I think he would have been able to move a little better on the ice battlefield than Gible." Clemont noted with a frown on his face.

"Ash…" Serena closed her eyes and grasped her hands as she began to wish for more good luck for her friend. "… Don't make a mistake or worry. You got this."

"Well, if you think your Gible is tough enough to take on my Vivillon, then I'd like to see what he can do. Let's do this Ash!" Viola declared.

"Vivillon!" Vivillon nodded her head, agreeing with her trainer.

The referee, once again, raised her hands in the air. "The final battle, between Vivillon and Gible… begin!"

With that declaration, Gible took another step forward in preparation to attack or defend himself. He then, immediately, slipped on the icy ground once again. Viola noticed this and an idea entered her head.

"Vivillon, let's end this match earlier. Use Sleep Powder and knock Gible out right away." She ordered.

"Vivi!" Vivillon declared as she started to fly over the arena, dropping the sleep-inducing powder.

"Quick, Gible, use Dig and get underground!" Ash called out to his Pokémon.

The dragon-type nodded his head and, instead of trying to step forward, jumped head-first into the ground. He created a hole that pierced the ice and the arena ground before he could be hit by the 'Sleep Powder'.

"Ah, so that's why Ash is using Gible! With Dig, it can move around freely on the battlefield a lot easier than Pikachu." Clemont realized, understanding Ash's logic.

"Yup, and it makes it a lot harder for him to be hit by Sleep Powder the longer he's underground." Gary noted with a smirk.

"You got this Ash. You do!" Serena continued to tell herself.

"Your Gible can try to stay underground if he wants, Ash… as long as he can stand the noise." Viola noted with a smirk as she pointed directly at the hole. "Vivillon, fly over the hole and use Bug Buzz!"

"Vivillon!" Vivillon immediately flew down towards the hole.

Once she was there, the Vivillon proceeded to vibrate its wings rapidly, releasing a loud sound wave. The sound traveled throughout the hole and proceeded to grow louder as it echoed throughout the tunnel. This resulted in Gible jumping out of the ground, creating a new hole. The dragon-type Pokémon was holding his ears in pain from the 'Bug Buzz' sound.

"And he's out." Viola noted with a smirk. "Vivillon, use Psychic!"

"Quick Gible, use Dragon Pulse!" Ash shouted immediately as Vivillon's eyes started to glow blue.

Gible released a colorful shockwave of energy from his mouth just as he was surrounded by a blue glowing light from Vivillon's 'Psychic'. Almost immediately after he was caught by the psychic-type attack, however, Vivillon was hit directly by 'Dragon Pulse'. The bug-typed cried out in pain, losing her concentration and freeing Gible from her control.

"Gible, use Draco Meteor!" Ash exclaimed, pointing directly into the sky.

"Gible!" Gible shouted as he looked directly above.

The dragon-type released a large, singular comet into the air. Once it reached the top of the room, the comet split into several, smaller meteors that rained from above.

"Vivillon, dodge!" Viola called out.

Vivillon proceeded to fly in a quick, elegant manner to avoid all of the falling meteors. They all collided onto the icy battlefield, destroying it and creating plenty of dust after the impact. Once the dust was blown away, Gible was revealed to be standing on solid, broken-up ground instead of on an icy battlefield. Various chunks of rock and broken ice were now visible on the ground's surface.

"Alright, no more slipping around." Ash smirked.

"So that was more so done to get rid of the ice battlefield, huh? Not a bad idea, once you realized being underground wasn't going to be enough." Viola praised. "However, that's not going to be enough to win this. Vivillon, use Sleep Powder!"

"Jump out of the way Gible." Ash ordered.

As Vivillon started to release her 'Sleep Powder', Gible began to jump and move away from the her. The dragon-type was now moving towards an area with a high concentrated amount of the debris that was knocked up from the 'Draco Meteor'.

"Stop Vivillon. Use Psychic and trap Gible!" Viola called out.

Vivillon immediately stopped using 'Sleep Powder' and immediately started to concentrate, her eyes turning blue. The debris that had been scattered around the battlefield quickly clumped together and surrounded the Gible completely. The Pokémon was completely covered to the people around him.

"Gib!" Gible shouted as he tried to pull himself out of the debris. He found out that he was stuck between the earth and couldn't just 'get out'.

"Gible!" Ash's eyes widened in panic as he noticed the situation his Pokémon was in.

"That's it. He's not going to get out." Viola declared as she pointed directly at the clumped up debris. "Vivillon, he's not going to get out, so drop the Psychic. Let's give this battle a photo finish: use Solar Beam!"

"VI!" Vivillon immediately flew further into the air as it started to charge up energy from the sun. Soon, solar energy started to collect and surround the scale Pokémon's wings.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu, who had been quietly observing the entire match, closed his eyes. He didn't want to watch his fellow Pokémon and friend get injured from the 'Solar Beam'.

'_This is bad! This is really bad…'_ Ash realized as he looked to the clump of debris that Gible was stuck in. He could hear his Pokémon trying to break free, but nothing was working. _'No…'_

"Is… This it?" Bonnie asked quietly, her eyes wide as they focused on the Vivillon preparing to unleash a Solar Beam.

"It may be…" Gary mumbled, shaking his head slightly.

"Ash…" Serena looked over at Ash intently. The boy looked frustrated and defeated, knowing that he was going to lose the battle. He looked like how she assumed she looked when she had tripped during Professor Oak's Summer Camp. _'… Wait a second!'_

* * *

"_OW! It-It hurts!" A seven-year old Serena cried as she tried to stand up. Her leg was in too much pain and wouldn't let her get up off the ground. Something like this _would_ happen to her. She didn't even want to come to Professor Oak's Summer Camp; her mother had forced her to come. Now, here she was with an injured leg and crying in front of a boy she had just met. _

"_Sure you can! Just try." The boy, Ash, told her with a bright smile on his face._

"_It's not working! I can't!" She continued to sob in response. No matter what the boy said, his words wouldn't take away the pain. _

"_You can! Don't give up until it's over!" He told her as he held out her hand. "You can do it!"_

_Serena looked up at Ash with tear-filled eyes, surprised at his words and how passionate he was when he said them. Hesitantly, she took his hand and he pulled her up off the ground. Eventually, she found herself standing on the ground. She winced in pain and the tears threatened to come back._

"_Here, let me help a little bit." Ash told her as he bent over and let one of Serena's arms surround his neck. He then helped her up, lifting her body off the ground and putting less weight on her injured foot. "Does that help a little bit?"_

_Serena looked at the boy in complete shock at his actions. He was okay with getting this close to her and helping her, somebody that he hadn't met before? She didn't know anybody, other than her mother, who she thought would be able to help her in this situation. Ash, however, was able to offer her the help she needed when she needed it._

"_It does… Thank you. Thank you so much..." She replied, a small blush developing on her face as Ash helped her back to camp._

* * *

'_If he's just like how I was back then, then he needs help too!'_ Serena realized as she started to speak up. "Don't give up until it's over Ash! Just think hard and you'll find a way to do something!"

Serena's shout took everybody in the room by surprise, especially Ash. The boy recognized the words she said to her. Although he remember them, he had not taken those words to heart. The second he saw his Gible completely trapped, he had given up before the match had finished. His childhood friend had helped him remember the advice that he told her years ago… advice that he desperately needed to hear.

'_Serena's right… I need to think…'_ Ash studied the clump of debris that had trapped his Gible. He then noticed that the material itself, even if it was keeping Gible stuck, was made from the ground: material that he knew Gible could dig through. _'That's it!'_

"Gible! DIG!" Ash shouted.

Gible managed to hear his trainer's order and proceeded to rotate in circles within his confinement, trying to break free by digging out. After a few seconds of trying, the 'Dig' managed to work and Gible freed himself from the ground.

Viola's eyes were wide in surprise. _'What the-'_

"Gible, use Draco Meteor before Vivillon finishes charging!" Ash called out, interrupting Viola's thoughts.

Gible immediately released another large comet his mouth directly at the Vivillon. Since the scale Pokémon was so focused on charging solar energy, she wasn't able to fly away and avoid the attack. The meteor hit her head on and flew further upwards. A few seconds passed before the attack split apart into multiple, tiny meteors that fell to the ground. Vivillon fell along with the meteors and managed to get hit by a few of the smaller meteors that hit the ground after she landed. Dust covered the entire battlefield for a few seconds. Once it cleared up, Vivillon was revealed to be on the ground, unable to move.

"Vi… vi… llon…" The bug-type moaned in pain.

"Vivillon is unable to battle. Gible is the winner! That means the winner of the battle is Ash, from Pallet Town!" The referee announced.

Upon hearing the announcement, a grin developed on Ash's face. The trainer jumped up in joy before he and Pikachu rushed over to Gible, giving the dragon-type Pokémon a tight group-hug.

"You did it Gible! That was amazing!" Ash cheered.

"Pikachu! Pika pika!" Pikachu praised the dragon-type for his performance.

"Gible…" Gible replied with a smile. The land shark Pokémon was exhausted after the battle, but he was still happy and proud for how well he did. He was happy to have helped his trainer win his first gym battle and he knew many more battles like this one would come.

"He got out of that situation. Wow…" Clemont blinked in surprise. "He's… Wow. That's awesome!"

"WAY TO GO ASH! YOU AND GIBLE ARE AMAZING!" Bonnie cheered loudly, jumping up-and-down in excitement for her friend's victory.

"… Are all of his gym battles like this?" Gary shook his head, chuckling to himself. For a moment, he actually imagined his childhood friend and rival losing in his gym battle, only for him to pull himself together and win in the end. "Good job Ash."

"He won…" Serena clapped her hands together and a grin that rivaled Ash's developed on her face. "HE WON! Thank goodness!"

"Vivillon, return." Viola returned her Pokémon to her pokéball. She looked at the ball for a second and smiled. "Well done. You deserve a nice, long rest for that battle."

The gym leader walked forward to Ash and gave the boy a smile as she started digging into the pocket of her shorts.

"That battle was fantastic Ash. It was a perfect shot. You and your Pokémon did amazing." Viola praised him.

"Heh, thanks. But really, all of the credit should be given to Fletchling and Gible." He told her with a smile as he looked affectionately at his Gible.

"That's true, but it takes more than just strong a Pokémon. They need a trainer that they can trust and rely on. And you showed you are definitely a strong trainer as well." The gym leader informed him. She finally pulled out a badge in the shape of a beetle and held it out to him. "So, take this and remember that you are definitely a strong trainer. Here's the Bug Badge."

Ash's smile turned into a grin as he took the badge. He quickly held out the badge proudly.

"I got my first Kalos Pokémon League badge: the Bug Badge!" He declared excitedly.

"Pikachu!" "Gible!" Both Pikachu and Gible cheered happily with their trainer.

Viola giggled to herself as she studied the trainer that had just defeated her and her Pokémon. They really seemed to be good examples of a good, true bond between trainer and Pokémon. He was a strong, respectable trainer: just like the trainer that had defeated earlier that day.

'… _Wait.'_ Her eyes widened as an idea entered her head. "Hey Ash?"

Ash, who was about to go meet up with his friends, turned his head and gave the blonde gym leader a curious look. "Yeah Viola?"

"Since you managed to really impress me, I'd like to ask you for a favor." The photographer started to speak. "I'm supposed to do a lecture this evening for the Pokémon Trainers' School. This isn't the first time I've done lectures there and I know they may be sick of me, so I thought it would be kinda nice to bring some of the trainers that impressed me over to show them a few more examples of Pokémon trainers." She then gave Ash an expectant look. "Are you and your friends free? Would you be able to attend the lecture?"

"Sure. That shouldn't be a problem for me at least." Ash told her. Pikachu and Gible both nodded, agreeing with their trainer.

"Awesome! I'll pay you back for this. Thanks so much." Viola replied with a smile. "I'll see you later tonight. Good job again on the victory."

"Thanks! See you later!" Ash replied as he rushed over to join his friends.

Viola continued to watch the boy as he rushed over to meet up with his friends. He was pulled into a group-hug by Bonnie and was quickly surrounded by the rest of his friends. Viola giggled at the sight and quickly took a picture of the group. She didn't really have a collection for human trainers, but she supposed she could start one if she found a group that seemed as photogenic and close to each other as Ash and his friends.

'… _Wonder how he and Ash will do against each other.'_ Viola wondered to herself, recalling her previous opponent.

* * *

**Quick Trivia:**

1: When Gary says Santalune City is similar to Viridian City... that's actually a reference to Bulbapedia. If you look at the article on Santalune City, you'll notice that it actually shares a lot of similarities with Viridian City. Since I have been using the website to fact-check everything I write to make sure I don't write anything _too_ contradictory to canon, I thought it would be a nice small reference and nod to the website.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hey everybody! Here's chapter five. :)

Here was my take on the battle between Ash and Viola. Again, any comments about the battles and how I write fight-scenes is greatly appreciated. I think I still have room for improvement and I'd love to improve before I really get into writing the _good_ fight-scenes planned for later in the story. So, let me know!

Thank you all again for all of the support! You are all so amazing and it means so much to see a review or message about the story. It really does. :) Make sure to let me know what you all like and dislike in the reviews. Everything will be read and can help me grow as a writer and make the story more enjoyable for you guys!

I hope you all have a good day. I'll begin working on chapter six immediately. I will see you all when it's finished! Until then :)


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